Louise B. Wheatley
Fruits of the Spirit
1985
Scroll
Louise B. Wheatley
Fruits of the Spirit
1985
Physical Qualities
Wool, silk, cotton, 65 x 42 in. (165.1 x 106.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Sara W. Levi, Baltimore
Object Number
2017.143
A large rectangular hanging composed of a black field with two ornamented beige stripes and one roundel The hanging (in reverse composition of the so-called "Coptic" tunic), is composed of three wide strips of black plain-woven ground. (The center black strip is joined in the middle). Between these black sections are two narrow tapestry-woven bands depicting pears of red/rose/taupe and peach shades hanging from black/brown branches against a background of light taupe and orange-beige tones that contrasts with the black ground of the adjacent sections. A tapestry-woven center roundel located in the upper half of the center black strip (between the two ornamental strips on either side) depicts a tree of life motif in similar colors surrounded by a polychrome circular border analogous to those found on some Coptic textiles. Greek letters woven at the upper right spell the word "useful," while those at the upper left spell "grow" --quoted from a word engraved on a baby's ring the artist saw at the Walter's Art Museum.
The Baltimore Museum of Art promised gift, ex coll. Sandra Levi by purchase from the artist..
Anita Jones, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Timeless Weft: Ancient Tapestries and the Art of Louise B. Wheatley, February 1–July 30, 2017.
James Abbott, Evergreen Museum and Library,The Johns Hopkins University, Batlimore Maryland,"Intimate Earth: The Art of Louise Wheatley,"October 19, 2011-January 29, 2012.
James Abbott, Evergreen Museum and Library,The Johns Hopkins University, Batlimore Maryland,"Intimate Earth: The Art of Louise Wheatley,"October 19, 2011-January 29, 2012.
Jones, Anita, "Louise Wheatley," in Intimate Earth: The Art of Louise Wheatley," James Archer Abbott (ed.), Baltimore: Evergreen Museum & Library, The Johns Hopkins University, 2011, pp.3-4.
Inscribed: Woven at the upper right:in Greek letters: "Οѵήσιμος" (Greek for "useful") Woven at the upper left in Greek letters: "ΑΫζΑΝΕ" (Greek for "grow") [quoted from a word engraved on a baby's ring the artist saw at the Walter's Art Museum, Baltimore]
