Lancaster Amish quilt, Center Square pattern, c. 1895. Machine assembled and hand-quilted.
Top: Twill-weave wool.
Back: Soft red twill-weave cotton.
Quilting: Dark-colored thread used in fine regular stitches. Inner square is filled with a large feather wreath with surrounding areas in waffle. Inner border has diamond quilting with a pumpkin seed flower within each. Outer border is filled with scrolling feathers and scalloping along its inner edge.
Blue 1" binding is machine sewn front and back.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from an unknown seller for $3.800 in April 1978.
Lancaster Amish quilt is a Center Square pattern, c. 1895. Machine joined; finely quilted with black thread.
Top: Twill-weave wools. Center is brown, 38" wide, pieced with one large piece and 5" strip at one side made of four smaller pieces. Inner border is medium blue, 4" wide. Outer border is dark olive green, 14" wide. Binding is medium blue, 1 1/2" wide, machine stitched to both back and front.
Back: Brown twill-weave wool with a narrow panel pieced at both sides of cinnamon brown sateen cotton.
Batting: Lightweight, either cotton or wool.
Quilting: Outer border filled with a gracefully curved scrolling feather. Inner border has 4-petal "pumpkin seed" flowers surrounded by a geometric diamond pattern. The 4 "pumpkin seed" shapes of these flowers slant sideways, creating a more dynamic feel. Center square has concentric feather rings with the center filled with a scallop-edged circle of waffle quilting. Outside corners are also filled with waffle quilting.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from Gaye N. Delling of Evergreen, CO in April of 1989 for $6,500.
Very dark liquid stains sprinkled mostly along one side of outer border; light liquid stains sprinkled elsewhere. Some liquid ate through fabric resulting in tiny holes mostly around outer border; cluster of holes near one corner of quilt has one larger hole of about 1/2" diameter.
Detailed 1989 condition report by conservator Linnea Davis in file: old repairs of holes and stains at outer border. Binding is faded with tack holes.
Lancaster Amish quilt is a Center Square pattern, c. 1895. Finely quilted w/ symmetry & precision. Assembled by machine and hand-quilted with brown cotton thread.
Top: Twill- and plain-weave wool. Center square of teal is 34 inches wide. Inner border (4 1/4" wide) is green and wide outer border (16" wide) is red. Faded blue binding is 1 1/4" wide.
Quilting: Same patterns, but differs slightly from the quilting of the previous two Center Square quilts. The large scrolls of the feather pattern of the outer border create compressed oval shapes rather than the conventional circular shapes. Scallops along the inner edge. Inner border has straight feather quilting. At one side of inner border is a significant gap between the feather ends, filled with a 5/8"-diameter ring. Center Square has a large, thin feather wreath. Waffle quilting fills inside and outside of wreath; scallops at both inside and outside edges of waffle quilting.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from Phyllis Haders of New York and Mystic, Conn., May 1984 for $9,000.
Overall fading. Outer border has multiple holes from about 1/2" x 1/4" big to 1/8" dia. that have been repaired by filling with similar twill fabric. Much of this border has pronounced discoloration/stains/soil and large areas are threadbare. Binding is significantly deteriorated with multiple breaks, fraying and small holes. Crepeline support added to bindings in 1985 and velcro on tape attached. Due to deterioration, removed velcro & crepeline in 1990, examined and replaced w/ new velcro on tape and some patches of crepeline. See condition reports in file.
Lancaster Amish quilt is a Center Square pattern, c. 1920. Notable because of added corner blocks. Although Center Square pattern is considered early, the usd of turquoise, the added corner blocks and the simpler and less fluid quilting patterns suggest a later date.
Top: Plain- and twill-weave wool. Turquoise inner border makes a striking tonal statement, making the quilt much brighter than the previous three.
Back: Black-and-white plain-weave cotton chambray (a pain-weave cotton having warp and weft threads of different colors, in this case, black and white). Chambray is frequently used as backing for Amish quilts.
Quilting: Center if filled with waffle pattern. Inner border has cable with a 7-petal flower at each corner, a later and less common inner border pattern. Outer border has basket quilting (usually associated with the 1920s and 30s). These baskets appear to be fruit-filled with coiled handles, creating a more interesting pattern than mere basket outlines. Corners have fine wreath quilting.
Near Peach Bottom, southern end of Lancaster County
Provenance
Esprit purchased from the Holsteins for $10,000 on 6-12-80. Robert Bishop writes that the quilt came from a farm near Peach Bottom in southern Lancaster County (Amish: The Art of the Quilt).
Lancaster Amish quilt is a Diamond in the Square patern, c. 1910. Herr writes: "The use of dark colors in similar tones suggests that this quilt was made in early 20th c."
Top: Plain- and twill-weave wool. Corners of inner border are pieced, and one of the four is comprised of two joined pieces. Blue binding.
Back: Black & white plain-weave cotton chambray.
Quilting: Interwoven feathers, each frond has a tulip at its end. Inner border has pumpkin seed flowers within a diamond pattern. At each corner is a 6-pointed star; all are double lined except on. Triangles are waffle quilted. Center diamond has a large star and 6 small stars within a feather wreath. Corners have a pattern of intersecting circles.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from the Holsteins for $9,000 on 6-12-80.
Lancaster Amish quilt is a Diamond in the Square pattern, c. 1900. The classic quilting patterns and subdued colors all suggest an early date. Consistency of elegant quilting (done in black) suggests a small number of very skilled quilters.
Top: Plain- and twill-weave wool. Turquoise diamond with purple triangles. Inner border is red and outer border is gray-tan. Purple binding; some pieced, is machine-sewn to front and whip-stitched to back.
Back: Blue-and-white plain-weave cotton chambray. Machine joined in 4 widths
Quilting: Black thread. Center Diamond has an 8-pointed star, double-lined, within two feather circles/wreaths. Cross-hatching fills corners and a scallop row is at outside edge. Triangles have cross-hatching. Inner border has pumpkin seed flowers within diamond geometric pattern. Outer border is filled with tightly scrolling feathers.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from the Holsteins for $9,000 on 6-12-86
Lancaster Amish quilt, Diamond in the Square pattern, circa 1925.
Top: plain- and twill-weave wools. Maroon center diamond and turquoise triangles. Inner border of the same maroon. Outer border of gray-blue. Red binding is 1 1/2" wide. (The turquoise wool dates from the 1920s or later.)
Back: plain-weave cotton with a gray-and-white twill-print. Two different fabrics joined; a narrow strip of darker print was used along one edge. This type of fabric is commonly used on backs.
Quilting: Diamond has a large feather wreath with large 8-point star centered within with 8 additional small stars surrounding star. Outside corners have a grape-and-leaf design and outer edges are lined with a row of scallops. Turquoise triangles of square have a rose and tulip branch pattern (normally seen on later quilts). Inner border has "pumpkin seed" flowers within a diamond pattern. Outer border has scrolling feather motif with a pair of 8-point stars centered at two sides only. A row of scallops lines inner edge.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from Phyllis Haders for $9,000 in May of 1984.
See file for Esprit condition report for details: small moth holes and worn areas. Additional holes/worn areas noted. Also light stains scattered over surface. Back has some large areas of light brown stain.
Lancaster Amish quilt, Diamond in the Square pattern, circa 1925.
Top: all twill-weave wools. Red diamond is on a square of dark blue. Both diamond and square have a narrow border (3 3/4" wide) of the same purple. Dark blue binding is 1 1/4" wide.
Back: Black sateen-weave cotton, four pieced panels.
Batting: Many sections of wool batt laid side by side, causing visual and textural changes to the front fabrics.
Quilting: Diamond has large feather wreath with an 8-pointed star centered within and double-stitched foliate motif in outside corners. Triangles of center square have branching tulip-and-rose design. Both inner borders have the same triple-stitched cable motif and 10-petal flowers in corners. Outer border has curving feather design with additional feather strips filling in where possible. A row of scallops are on inner edge, next to inner border.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from Bettie Mintz of Bethesda, MD in Feb. 1984 for $9,500.
Issued as U.S. postage stamp, August 9, 2001. (Samples in Esprit file). Featured on cover of Esprit book "Amish: The Art of the Quilt."
See file for Esprit condition report for details: small moth holes and worn areas. Additional holes/worn areas noted. Also light stains scattered over surface. Back has some large areas of light brown stain.
Lancaster Amish quilt, Diamond in the Square pattern, c. 1925. This classic wool quilt is pieced from a pleasing selection of intense colors that might have been used earlier in the century, but the rose motif quilting suggests a date of mid-1920s or later.
Top: Plain-and twill-weave wool. Diamond of light red (24" square) has narrow purple border and outside the turquoise center square is another purple border. Wide outer border of deep red. Binding of gray-blue is 1 1/4" wide. It has machine stitching with white thread on front.
Back: Printed plain-weave cotton is maroon with tiny white motifs.
Quilting: Within a large feather wreath is a large center 8-pointed star surrounded by 8 smaller stars. Corners outside wreath have floral quilting. Triangles of square have a branching tulip and rose motif. Both inner borders have a grapevine pattern not common until the late 1920s and 1930s. Outer border has usual feather quilting that is less dense than usual, so additional floral device helps to fill in space: two small 9-petal flowers are stitched between feather ends at the center of each side of outer border.
Provenance
Esprit purchased from Edward Brown of San Francisco for $5,200 on April 7, 1981.
See file for Esprit condition report. A 1/2-inch patched hole on wide red border is near center area. Many small, scattered stains and soil are especially visible in turquoise triangle and red outer border. Scattered small holes on front and back of binding. Prominent dark liquid stain on backing.
Lancaster Amish quilt, Diamond in the Square pattern. Design of quilt is less complex than most (no outer corner blocks), suggesting a later date. Large size also supports a later date. The quilting is not dense.
Top: Plain-and crepe-weave wool. Red diamond with turquoise narrow border within a square of green triangular blocks having a turquoise narrow border and gray corner blocks (unusual light color choice for Lancaster Co. Amish). Outside border of green. Blue binding.
Back: Blue plain-weave polished cotton.
Quilting: Hand quilted in black thread, without the normal dense patterns. Unusual floral wreath in center diamond; pumpkin seed flowers in both narrow borders including gray corner blocks; 3-branching rose motif in triangles of square; good conventional feather scrolling in outer borders.
Provenance
Esprit purchased on 6-12-1986 from the Holsteins for $9,000.
Numerous holes/tears mended on binding at one corner and one within outside border. Multiple light stains or soil. Reverse has faded/bleached strip with accretion and a circular liquid stain.
