Quilt is white cotton, top and back, with appliques of potted floral design done in solid red and a green with lesser yellow highlights. Pattern is often called "Pot of Flowers." Center is divided into quadrants with an identical large flowering & fruiting potted plant supporting 4 birds in each, creating a symmetrical design.Ornate pot has handles and the branches have leaves of stylized oak, tulip and cucumber. Border has a pair of wide-spreading flowering & fruiting plants on each side and a bird perched on a smaller sprig at each corner.
Blue is used only on the tail of the four corner birds. Red cherries cluster around branches on each plant; yellow ones at branch tips only. Cherries are cotton-stuffed balls stitched to quilt top only. Chain-stitch embroidered stems done in white thread.
Quilting is done in a fine grid (about 1/2") of blue contrasting thread over entire surface. Binding is red and batting is sparse or nonexistent..
Attributed to Sarah Annie Maisey Marker Smith (22 February 1883 - 22 December 1965). Married twice, she had 7 children & made quilts for many if not all. The family called them "cherry quilts." See Notes.
Provenance
Donor reports quilt was acquired by his wife's parents, Lynn and Lois Langdon, who lived in Idaho and were antiques collectors. At an auction in Oregon state (c.1987-88), the quilt was described as a "Pennsylvania wedding quilt." The Langdons purchased it, thinking it would be appropriate for the Lancaster bed & breakfast "The Patchwork Inn" run by donor and his late wife. (Donor's wife, Joanne, died some time ago. He remarried and they continued the B&B for another 10 years.) The Martins had a collection of over 100 quilts in this B&B. Now retired, donor is finding homes for many of the quilts.
Bio. info on maker Sarah Annie was obtained by Trish Herr from Morgan Anderson (see file). Quiltmaker lived on Easterday Rd, north of Myersville, MD.
Red binding and many stuffed cherries heavily worn. Loss of 2 cherries on one of the large quadrant plants. Minor soiling with some liquid stains, mostly around edges. Reverse has light acid burn at some fold lines. Along one quilt edge are spaced eleven minor holes, probably where tacked up for display in B&B.
Object ID
G.02.47.01
Notes
Applique quilts such as this cherry type "Pot of Flowers" design with its color palette of red and green were being made circa 1850s-1870. Red and green applique quilts were popular in the East, then spread westward where they remained popular during this time, then faded. Two more Pot of Flowers are dated 1902 and 1904, but really had a significant resurgence in the1920s and 1930s. See Connie Nordstroms, "One Pot of Flowers Quilt Pattern -- Blossoming through Centuries", Vol. 23 of the Research Papers of the AQSG, 2002 in file.
Place of Origin
Myersville, Frederick County, Maryland
Role
Quiltmaker
Credit
Given by the W. Lee Martin family in memory of Joanne M. Martin, Heritage Center Collection
