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Abolition Fair Cradle Quilt

Collection Type

  • Textiles

Date

1851-1853

GUSN

GUSN-10460

Description

Cradle-sized quilt with a blue silk ground, a portrait of George Washington circled by green laurels crowning an eagle perched on a shield and crossed flags surrounded by thirty-one stars, each representing a state linked by a chain with an embroidered verse and double tassels embroidered in the corners with a border of corded red and white silk.

Details

Descriptive Terms

quilts
silk (textile)
chenille (yarn)
embroidering
painting (coating)
quilting
Bedcover
Quilt, Bed
Quilt, Crib
Quilt, Crib

Label

This quilt was on display at the New York World's Fair Exhibition in 1853. It was part of a large installation by the children and women's clothier L.P. Hollander of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Maria T. Hollander had purchased it, or at least the top, from a woman who won a medal at the London Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851.
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit: "Art and the Empire City" running from September 19, 2000 to January 7, 2001.

Inscription

Embroidered verse: State linked to State - Oh Unity divine!/Our cherished Washington! the praise be thine./And yet,alas! by thee, regarded not,/One curse remains a monstrous, hideous blot./But should thy spirit in new form burst forth,/The stain to 'rase that tarnishes the South;/This proffered Quilt would proudly claim to be/Spread o'er the cradle of his infancy.

Associated Person

Washington, George, 1732-1799

Associated Events

New York (Crystal Palace) Exhibition (1853-1854)

Maker

Possibly Hollander, Maria T. Baldwin (Maker)

Location of Origin

New York, NY, USA

Dimensions

43 3/4 x 43 (HxW) (inches)

Credit Line

Loan from Mrs. Benjamin F. Pitman

Accession Number

2.1923

Reference Notes

Fox, Sandi. Small Endearments. [No Publisher].

Places

New York state (United States)

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