First Amish Quilt Discussion
In a blog post on June 5, 2009, titled “Lecture Leaves Questions,” I addressed some of the topics with which I took issue, in a presentation by Cheryl Savageau, who gave a talk about quilting sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.
One of the specific points I mentioned was the speaker’s allusion to the “first Amish quilt ever made.” She stated that she has a photo of it.
In part, I said the following:
The lecturer said that she has a photo of the first known Amish quilt in faded reds and purples, created sometime between 1865 and 1940.
Today, some new light was shed on this topic when I was contacted by Jonathan Holstein. He is a well-known quilt art scholar, and an Amish quilt collector. His pivotal display of quilts at the Whitney Quilt Museum in 1971 is credited with fueling the flame of the current quilt passion that has swept the country ever since.
He reveals this information in his note:
I enjoyed reading your posting about Amish quilts, and noted your questions about a lecturer claiming “that she has a photo of the first known Amish quilt in faded reds and purples,” I think what is going on is that the very first Amish quilt Gail and I found we included in the 1971 Whitney Museum exhibition, and it was a Bars quilt in somewhat faded reds and purples. This was, as far as we know, the first Amish quilt shown publicly and identified as such, and that has been printed in a number of places. So perhaps the lecturer mistakenly thought this was the “first” Amish in a literal sense, which of course it was not. The earliest dated Amish quilt of which I am aware is s a whole cloth quilt dated 1849.
Jonathan Holstein
At last, a definitive answer! Thanks, Jonathan!
P.S. There are additional files about Amish Quilts on our main website.
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
