Map Quilt188678 3/4 × 82 1/4"Silk and cotton velvets and brocade with embroideryGift of Dr. and Mrs. C. David McLaughlin1987.1.10Backing machine-quilted to batting, diagonal lines. Feather stitch embroidery. Material description; silks and cotton with silk embroidery and cotton sateen backing.
152361224Artist unidentifiedTextilesThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. Embroidered in yellow thread along the border shared by Washington and Oregon: MDCCLXXXVI (1886)United StatesVirginiaTextileseMuseum - Collection HighlightsInstructions for the Y-shaped pattern (called “right-angle piecing”) that is used for the background of this quilt were published in several late-nineteenth-century English and American sources. The design was especially suggested for use in small projects such as throw pillows. Maps were depicted on samplers in both England and America by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century schoolgirls. It is, however, unusual to find a pieced quilt in the form of a map.
Elizabeth C. Warren, "Map Quilt," exhibition label from QUILTS: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum. Elizabeth V. Warren, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2010.Maps have been recorded on textiles since ancient times. In the Middle Ages, maps printed on cloth were known as "mappae Mundi." During the 18th and 19th centuries, maps were popularly printed on handkerchiefs and as subjects for schoolgirl samples. It is rare, though, to find a pieced quilt in the form of a map. This quilt incorporates many of the elements associated with crazy quilts: the use of rich fabrics, elaborately embroidered overstitching on the seams, irregularly shaped pieces, which, in this case, join to form a map of the United States. The major rivers are delineated in yellow stitching and Texas is enhanced by an embroidered "Lone Star." The date 1886 is embroidered in Roman numerals along the border of Washington and Oregon. Instructions for the "right angle" piecing were published in several late 19th century sources and the design was suggested for use in small projects such as throw pillows. The maker of this quilt, however, has chosen to use the design as the border of her map quilt. Texas, star; Colorado, spider web; Wyoming, flower; Iowa, floral; Illinois, floral.In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, wrote that it was “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” “Manifest Destiny” became a catchphrase for American expansionism, which was virtually completed by the time this quilt in the form of a map of the United States was made. By 1886, the date embroidered in Roman numerals along the border between Oregon and Washington, America “stretched from sea to shining sea,” anticipating Katherine Lee Bates’s 1895 anthem. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are highlighted in blue fabric with embroidery, and Texas is distinguished from the rest of the country by the inclusion of a prominent yellow star. Additional embroidered elements appear on Colorado, Wyoming, Illinois, and Iowa. However, the sparseness of embroidery in a needlework era distinguished by its abundance of surface embellishments suggests that the textile may never have been completed.
Instructions for right-angle piecing—the Y-shaped pattern that is used for the background of this quilt—were published in late-nineteenth-century English and American sources. The design was suggested for small projects, such as throw pillows, rather than for large-scale projects like this quilt. Although this map is an unusual treatment in the show quilt idiom, there is long precedence for depictions of maps on fabric—in the early nineteenth century, young women stitched sampler maps and three-dimensional fabric globes as part of their geography lessons. Few examples of pieced quilts in the form of maps exist today, however.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Map Quilt," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 350.
In the late nineteenth century, complicated pieced quilt patterns were made available in periodicals and by pattern manufacturers, and the source of Map Quilt has been traced to ladies’ magazines published in the 1880s. Although this map is an unusual treatment in the show quilt idiom, there is long precedence for depictions of maps on fabric—in the early nineteenth century, young women stitched sampler maps and three-dimensional fabric globes as part of their geography lessons. Map Quilt, embroidered with the date 1886, represents the states of the union as well as US territories as they were demarked at that time. It has been speculated that this quilt remains unfinished, as the embroidery is relatively subdued in context of the excessive ornamentation of the period.
In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, coined the term "manifest destiny" to describe American westward expansion. It quickly became an ideology—a belief in the inherent superiority of white European-Americans, which justified the right to conquer the territories of North America "from sea to shining sea" and clear indigenous populations from the land. Forced removal and violent extermination were two tactics employed to colonize and carve up the West. The conquest for new territories aggravated divisions over slavery and, ultimately, played a significant role in initiating the Civil War. A precarious balance was held between the slaveholding South and abolitionist North that led to a series of compromises—starting with the Missouri Compromise in 1920—over the expansion of slavery as new borders were drawn.
Sarah Margolis-Pineo, Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts, Self-Taught Genius Gallery, July 16 – October 3, 2018.showpieced18861886 1987 1 1 Instructions for the Y-shaped pattern (called “right-angle piecing”) that is used for the background of this quilt were published in several late-nineteenth-century English and American sources. The design was especially suggested for use in small projects such as throw pillows. Maps were depicted on samplers in both England and America by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century schoolgirls. It is, however, unusual to find a pieced quilt in the form of a map.
Elizabeth C. Warren, "Map Quilt," exhibition label from QUILTS: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum. Elizabeth V. Warren, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2010.Maps have been recorded on textiles since ancient times. In the Middle Ages, maps printed on cloth were known as "mappae Mundi." During the 18th and 19th centuries, maps were popularly printed on handkerchiefs and as subjects for schoolgirl samples. It is rare, though, to find a pieced quilt in the form of a map. This quilt incorporates many of the elements associated with crazy quilts: the use of rich fabrics, elaborately embroidered overstitching on the seams, irregularly shaped pieces, which, in this case, join to form a map of the United States. The major rivers are delineated in yellow stitching and Texas is enhanced by an embroidered "Lone Star." The date 1886 is embroidered in Roman numerals along the border of Washington and Oregon. Instructions for the "right angle" piecing were published in several late 19th century sources and the design was suggested for use in small projects such as throw pillows. The maker of this quilt, however, has chosen to use the design as the border of her map quilt. Texas, star; Colorado, spider web; Wyoming, flower; Iowa, floral; Illinois, floral.In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, wrote that it was “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” “Manifest Destiny” became a catchphrase for American expansionism, which was virtually completed by the time this quilt in the form of a map of the United States was made. By 1886, the date embroidered in Roman numerals along the border between Oregon and Washington, America “stretched from sea to shining sea,” anticipating Katherine Lee Bates’s 1895 anthem. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are highlighted in blue fabric with embroidery, and Texas is distinguished from the rest of the country by the inclusion of a prominent yellow star. Additional embroidered elements appear on Colorado, Wyoming, Illinois, and Iowa. However, the sparseness of embroidery in a needlework era distinguished by its abundance of surface embellishments suggests that the textile may never have been completed.
Instructions for right-angle piecing—the Y-shaped pattern that is used for the background of this quilt—were published in late-nineteenth-century English and American sources. The design was suggested for small projects, such as throw pillows, rather than for large-scale projects like this quilt. Although this map is an unusual treatment in the show quilt idiom, there is long precedence for depictions of maps on fabric—in the early nineteenth century, young women stitched sampler maps and three-dimensional fabric globes as part of their geography lessons. Few examples of pieced quilts in the form of maps exist today, however.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Map Quilt," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 350.
In the late nineteenth century, complicated pieced quilt patterns were made available in periodicals and by pattern manufacturers, and the source of Map Quilt has been traced to ladies’ magazines published in the 1880s. Although this map is an unusual treatment in the show quilt idiom, there is long precedence for depictions of maps on fabric—in the early nineteenth century, young women stitched sampler maps and three-dimensional fabric globes as part of their geography lessons. Map Quilt, embroidered with the date 1886, represents the states of the union as well as US territories as they were demarked at that time. It has been speculated that this quilt remains unfinished, as the embroidery is relatively subdued in context of the excessive ornamentation of the period.
In 1845, John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review, coined the term "manifest destiny" to describe American westward expansion. It quickly became an ideology—a belief in the inherent superiority of white European-Americans, which justified the right to conquer the territories of North America "from sea to shining sea" and clear indigenous populations from the land. Forced removal and violent extermination were two tactics employed to colonize and carve up the West. The conquest for new territories aggravated divisions over slavery and, ultimately, played a significant role in initiating the Civil War. A precarious balance was held between the slaveholding South and abolitionist North that led to a series of compromises—starting with the Missouri Compromise in 1920—over the expansion of slavery as new borders were drawn.
Sarah Margolis-Pineo, Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts, Self-Taught Genius Gallery, July 16 – October 3, 2018.showpieced