Log Cabin Quilt, Courthouse Steps Variation1890–1910Frame: 69 1/2 x 58 " (176.5 x 147.3 cm)Silk, satin, velvetGift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in honor of Robert Bishop, Museum director (1977–1991)1990.17.80Foundation pieced, silk, Additional material information: including satin and velvet152529451Samuel SteinbergerTextilesThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.New YorkNew YorkUnited StatesNew YorkTextileseMuseum - Collection HighlightsNew YorkTEXTILEpiecedSamuel Steinberger was one among the flood of immigrants pouring into New York ports of entry from areas of Eastern Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Many of these immigrants were Jews fleeing oppressions that were mounting in the 1880s. A large number of these immigrants were trained in the textile trades and congregated in a small area on the Lower East Side, which quickly became New York’s first predominantly Jewish neighborhood and one of the most heavily populated areas of the country. Steinberger, a tailor, utilized the satin and velvet remnants of coat linings to make this atypical Courthouse Steps pattern. Changes in color and fabric give the blocks—and the whole quilt—an asymmetrical look, a distinct difference from the regularity usually found in Log Cabins.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," exhibition label from JubilationIRumination: Life, real and imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.This quilt is one of a very few in the museum’s collection believed to have been made by a man. According to information handed down with the bedcover, it was made by Samuel Steinberger, a tailor who utilized the satin and velvet remnants of coat linings. The textile is also unusual because of the way the design varies from the typical Courthouse Steps pattern. Changes in color and fabric give the blocks—and the whole quilt—an asymmetrical look, a distinct difference from the regularity usually found in Log Cabins.
Elizabeth V. Warren, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," exhibition label from QUILTS: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum. Elizabeth V. Warren, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2010.log cabinAccording to tradition, this quilt was made by a male tailor who reportedly used remnants of satin and velvet linings for what was probably a parlor throw. Samuel Steinberger was one of the immigrants who poured into New York ports of entry from areas of Eastern Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth. Many of these immigrants were Jews fleeing mounting oppressions in the 1880s. A large number were trained in the textile trades and congregated in a small area on the Lower East Side, which quickly became New York City's first predominantly Jewish neighborhood and one of the most heavily populated areas of the country. The New York City Directory for 1900 and the New York State census for the same year both list a "Sam'l Steinberger, tailor" living at 352 East 3rd Street in Manhattan. According to the census, both Steinberger and his wife, Sarah, were born in Hungary—Samuel in April 1865 and Sarah in January 1870. Steinberger immigrated to America in 1884, and he and Sarah married in 1889. Directory listings through 1925 show "Sam'l" and his family at a number of different addresses in Manhattan and the Bronx until 1934, when Sarah is listed as a widow living in the Bronx with her daughter.
Steinberger's quilt is an unusual variation of the Courthouse Steps pattern. Atypical changes in color and fabric—the substitution of a light color where a dark would be expected, for instance—give the quilt a visual unpredictability that is different from the regularity usually associated with Log Cabins.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 355.18901910 1990 17 8 TEXTILEpiecedSamuel Steinberger was one among the flood of immigrants pouring into New York ports of entry from areas of Eastern Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century. Many of these immigrants were Jews fleeing oppressions that were mounting in the 1880s. A large number of these immigrants were trained in the textile trades and congregated in a small area on the Lower East Side, which quickly became New York’s first predominantly Jewish neighborhood and one of the most heavily populated areas of the country. Steinberger, a tailor, utilized the satin and velvet remnants of coat linings to make this atypical Courthouse Steps pattern. Changes in color and fabric give the blocks—and the whole quilt—an asymmetrical look, a distinct difference from the regularity usually found in Log Cabins.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," exhibition label from JubilationIRumination: Life, real and imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.This quilt is one of a very few in the museum’s collection believed to have been made by a man. According to information handed down with the bedcover, it was made by Samuel Steinberger, a tailor who utilized the satin and velvet remnants of coat linings. The textile is also unusual because of the way the design varies from the typical Courthouse Steps pattern. Changes in color and fabric give the blocks—and the whole quilt—an asymmetrical look, a distinct difference from the regularity usually found in Log Cabins.
Elizabeth V. Warren, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," exhibition label from QUILTS: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum. Elizabeth V. Warren, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2010.log cabinAccording to tradition, this quilt was made by a male tailor who reportedly used remnants of satin and velvet linings for what was probably a parlor throw. Samuel Steinberger was one of the immigrants who poured into New York ports of entry from areas of Eastern Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth. Many of these immigrants were Jews fleeing mounting oppressions in the 1880s. A large number were trained in the textile trades and congregated in a small area on the Lower East Side, which quickly became New York City's first predominantly Jewish neighborhood and one of the most heavily populated areas of the country. The New York City Directory for 1900 and the New York State census for the same year both list a "Sam'l Steinberger, tailor" living at 352 East 3rd Street in Manhattan. According to the census, both Steinberger and his wife, Sarah, were born in Hungary—Samuel in April 1865 and Sarah in January 1870. Steinberger immigrated to America in 1884, and he and Sarah married in 1889. Directory listings through 1925 show "Sam'l" and his family at a number of different addresses in Manhattan and the Bronx until 1934, when Sarah is listed as a widow living in the Bronx with her daughter.
Steinberger's quilt is an unusual variation of the Courthouse Steps pattern. Atypical changes in color and fabric—the substitution of a light color where a dark would be expected, for instance—give the quilt a visual unpredictability that is different from the regularity usually associated with Log Cabins.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Log Cabin Quilt: Courthouse Steps Variation," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 355.