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Exhibited Memorial or Mourning Album quilt top or bed cover. Hand pieced, appliqued, and unquilted, comprised of various colors of printed cotton and silk, depicting a Paradise Garden Afterlife. Consisting of eighteen (18) outer blocks depicting floral wreaths, deer beneath trees, and four memorial or mourning blocks with willow trees and tombstones, a large center square depicting a peacock with unusual buttonhole or blanket stitching on its tail within a wreath above a smaller square depicting three deer beneath three trees, both within eighteen (18) squares with birds. All within a berry and vine border with floral basket and bird corners. Edges are finished with a separate white cotton binding machine applied. 91 in. x 82 1/4 in. Circa 1850s. Note: This is one of two quilts in this auction from the collection of the late Linda Felts of Memphis, which was featured in the “Pieced & Patterned” exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida, from September 18, 2021, to January 23, 2022. The exhibition placard for the quilt reads, “Despite extensive research, the artist who made this quilt remains unknown. It is one of several works by this quilter, who was probably active in the Upper Northeastern United States, whose work is characterized by elaborate appliques of trees, flowers, and birds. The example is especially unusual as it includes images of tombstones. According to oral tradition, it was made by a woman as a memorial to children in her care who died untimely deaths”.
PROVENANCE:
The estate of Linda Felts, Memphis, TN.
CONDITION:
The quilt is mounted onto a hinged display board. Scattered losses and fading to cotton fabrics, deteriorating silk, along with scattered water stains and staining.
