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August 30 - September 17, 2004
The John Wesley Quilt
A Baltimore Album of
1849 – 1850
A Brief History of the
Baltimore Album
The
Baltimore Album movement began in the early 1840’s for a brief period, probably
no more than 10 years in duration. Its earliest beginning was closely
associated with the Methodist Church within a very small geographical area in
Baltimore
City
itself. During this period a woman named Mary Evans began to draw patterns for
the purpose of passing on to other women to appliqué for a lovely quilt of
endearments to loved ones, for wedding quilts, and very frequently to honor
friends departing for the great move west, which began in the 1840’s.
Why
do we often cite the Methodist Church
in the importance of the development of this quilt genre?
The
earliest designer and maker, Mary Evans, was an active member of the Methodist
Church and often brought with her blocks for stitching either to Sunday school
classes or to the quilt gatherings supported by the church. Because these
blocks were so beautiful and challenging, the women were drawn – spiritually
drawn – to the wonderful flowers, birds, vases, colors, and began to stitch the
blocks in order to express (as true Victorian women were given to do) their
affections for loved ones.
When
one looks deeply into an album quilt, one sees many of the same images from
quilt to quilt. That is because the makers developed a language, a means
to communicate by using a lexicon – or reference – which was typical both in the
study of botanicals and also of this new and expressive quilt genre.
Today,
the Baltimore
quilts are being made with great fervor, by women who are adding their own new
touches and symbols appropriate to our lives today. The individually blocks,
stitched by Judy Shapiro, former Wesley Artist-in-Residence, are being recreated
so that these quilt patterns are documented for use by today’s stitchers and as
a tangible reference to the original quilt which must be carefully preserved in
museum conditions.
Ownership of the John Wesley Quilt
The
Wesley quilt was found in storage at the
Asbury
Methodist
Village
in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was given to them as a bequest in 1964 and placed
in storage until found by Judith Wilson Shapiro in February, 2003. Asbury
retains ownership.
Judy
Shapiro
Quilter-in-Residence 2002
About
the Show
Last
year, Judy
Shapiro
called me with the exciting news of her discovery of a previously-unknown
Baltimore Album Quilt with an inked portrait of
John
Wesley
in one of its squares. Since then, Judy has spent countless hours examining and
studying the quilt. Her re-creations of some of its squares and copies of Elly
Sienkiewicz’ list of symbols, generated in the early 1980’s as she began her
scholarly study of these quilts, were included in the exhibition.
The
Henry Luce III Center for the Arts and Religion is delighted to have this
opportunity to exhibit this fragile, historic textile before it goes into
careful, climate-controlled storage. We recognize its importance, along with
other Baltimore Album Quilts, in understanding women’s roles the history of
Methodism over 150 years ago. In exhibiting Judy Shapiro’s interpretations of
the traditional patterns, we acknowledge the ongoing role that quilts and
quilting have in the spiritual and communal lives of many women and men today.
Deborah
Sokolove
Curator, Dadian
Gallery
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