Monday 8 December 2008Going West: Stunning display of American heritage

Going West!: Quilts and Community is a fascinating photographic collection of over 50 nineteenth century quilts, published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with London-based fine art publisher D Giles Limited in October 2007 and reprinted in June 2008 due to its immediate success.

Over 50 nineteenth century quilts, some dating from the earliest years of the Western pioneers, are shown in striking colour, many featured with additional details. These quilts were either made, or lovingly transported by individuals and families along the great migratory wagon trails, and reveal the essential role that quilts and quilt-making played in the lives of frontier women. In an illuminating introductory essay leading quilt scholar Roderick Kiracofe discusses the history and social context of quilt-making, a theme expounded by the extensive commentaries accompanying each quilt.

The Great Platte River Road Trail, a map of which is featured in the book, was the principal route for America’s western expansion as early as the 1830s. Pioneers heading for a new life in the Nebraska Territory packed their wagons with necessities that almost always included quilts. Quilts served an important purpose along the difficult journey, whether used as sturdy domestic bedding along the trail or packed tenderly in the trunk as a reminder of all that had been left behind.

All the quilts featured in this richly illustrated new book have been selected by independent curator Sandi Fox, who is the guest curator for the exhibition. Each entry is accompanied by a caption highlighting why each quilt has been chosen. Many of the quilts show remarkable needlework skills which reveal much of the history behind the women and girls who made and proudly autographed them. A shared passion for the newly discovered flora and fauna of the American West and a wistful reminder of the formal gardens left behind is reflected in the recurring use of embroidered and appliquéd botanical motifs, in some cases stylized into “blazing stars” or “prince’s feathers” In 1866 Savilla Fox embroidered vibrant orange and yellow pomegranates on a white cotton quilt. In a less exotic interpretation Melissa Snyder appliquéd 12 two-handled flowerpots on her quilt in 1856, and a twelve year old nearly fifty years later in 1904 embroidered 35 blocks of two-handled baskets with flowers and leaves.

Unless a quilt has been signed it is now very difficult to ascribe them to a particular person, but where possible biographical details about the quilt-maker have been included. Mary Magdalene Mook Norris created her star pattern quilt in about 1895 for the daughter of her only surviving son George W Norris, whose autobiography written once he was a Senator of Nebraska throws light on his mother’s early life. Another quilt made by her, again from the late nineteenth century, is a complex pattern of “wagon wheels” and “Dresden plates”.

Informative quotes from the letters and diaries of the women, who made them, reveal that for them quilts had significance beyond the decorative or useful. In the remarkable colour photographs the romance and tradition of American quilt-making come to life.Sandi Fox is an independent curator and scholar of quilt history. She is the author of Quilts: California Bound, California Made 1840-1940 (2002) and Wrapped in Glory: Figurative Quilts and Bedcovers, 1700-1900 (1990); Roderick Kiracofe is one of the foremost authorities on the history of the American quilt, and author of The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950 (1993, republished 2004) and Cloth and Comfort: Pieces of Women’s Lives from their Quilts and Diaries (1994)

Going West! Quilts and Community

128 pages, 10” x 11” (279 x 254mm)
96 colour and 12 black-and-white illustrations, hardback
Text: Up to 25,000 words
ISBN: 978 1 904832 45 4 (13 digit)
ISBN: 1 904832 45 8 (10 digit)

Price: US$49.95/UK£25.00
Publication date: October 2007 and June 2008
Publisher: D. Giles Limited, London

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