$31,725
Pieced and Appliqued Cotton Baltimore Album Quilt, signed and dated "Sarah Shafer, Baltimore, 1850" the quilt composed of sixteen printed and plain fabric blocks in predominantly red, yellow, green, and blue fabrics on a white ground depicting a variety of motifs including Baltimore's monument honoring George Washington, a fire pumper truck flanked by American flags, in support of volunteer fire departments, a building, likely the nation's capitol, floral urns, a heart-shaped floral wreath commemorating Baltimore's fallen Mexican-American War heroes, birds, wreaths, and hearts linked by brotherhood, each square separated by a grid of red fabric, the border with swags, flower blossoms and rosettes flanked by red and green sawtooth borders, some motifs padded or embroidered with wool yarns, edged in red, two squares signed, one with a pen and ink image of a bird with a banner inscribed "Sarah Shafer Baltimore 1850," another square signed," John Hadly," unbacked, 107 x 106 in. Literature: This quilt is pictured and discussed in an article in FOLK ART: Magazine of the Museum Of American Folk Art, Spring, 1994, "Albums, Artizans & Odd Fellows," pp. 32-3, and The Knopf Collector's Guide to American Antiques: Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs, and Samplers by Robert Bishop, Alfred A. Knopf, New, York, 1982, plate 20. Provenance: America Hurrah.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-02-18
