Fleurs-de-lis and Tulip
1844-1854
Physical Qualities
Cotton, ink, 17 7/8 × 18 1/4 in. (45.4 × 46.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Olive C. Slater
Object Number
1946.44g
It was the discovery of indelible ink in the first part of the 19th century that allowed album squares to be signed in writing rather than embroidery. Inscriptions on album quilts vary as greatly as the quilts themselves. Some include miniature scenes (see Memorial to Susanna[h] Riley). Others are written in free-style calligraphy with banderoles or ribbon flourishes [see Temperance]. Still others are stamped or made with small metal templates available commercially.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1946; Ms. Olive C. Slater via inheriitance; Olive S. Slater via interitance; Mary S. Slater.
Exhibited at The Hecht Company, Baltimore, MD, Sept. 29-October 15, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. Exhibit catalog does not include any of these album quilt squares. [Receipt from BMA to Hecht Co., A 2100 dated September, 29 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 b, c, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, s, t.]
Exhibited at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD, November 2th – early December, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. [Receipt from BMA to Enoch Pratt Free Library, A 2123 dated November 2, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 c, i, g, h.] However it appears that 1946.44c was rotated to Hutzler’s Dept. Store by November 12, 1971.
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44g, Circulated to: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nov. 18, 1980-Jan. 11, 1981; Metropolitan Museum, New York, June 30, 1981-Aug. 30, 1981; BMA Dec. 13, 1981-Feb. 7, 1982.
*this square may or may not have been shown in this exhibit.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 2nd rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
Exhibited at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD, November 2th – early December, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. [Receipt from BMA to Enoch Pratt Free Library, A 2123 dated November 2, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 c, i, g, h.] However it appears that 1946.44c was rotated to Hutzler’s Dept. Store by November 12, 1971.
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44g, Circulated to: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nov. 18, 1980-Jan. 11, 1981; Metropolitan Museum, New York, June 30, 1981-Aug. 30, 1981; BMA Dec. 13, 1981-Feb. 7, 1982.
*this square may or may not have been shown in this exhibit.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 2nd rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
Inscribed: "Sophia S. Merryman" (inked)
