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Two Narrative Quilts
| Article
# : |
13955 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1988 |
4,412 Words |
| Author
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Gladys-Marie Fry
Folklorist Gladys-Marie Fry teaches at the University of
Maryland in College Park. The original version of this article
appeared in Missing Pieces: Georgia Folk Art 1770-1976,
published by the George Council for the Arts and Humanities. |
Although narrative quilts are a distinctly American art form, they utilize an appliqué technique traceable to historic Eastern civilizations, and with discernible roots in African culture. Quilts made by African-American women like Harriet Powers form a link to the tapestries traditionally made by the Fon people of Abomey, the ancient capital of Dahomey (now Benin) in West Africa. Africans from that area brought with them to the American South their knowledge of appliqué, which in Dahomey was executed by men but in America was perpetuated by slave women.
In the Dahomean tapestries and in Powers' quilts, stories from oral tradition and oral history are illustrated with appliquéd figures. Many Dahomean tapestries contain animals as symbols of kings or as the central figures of proverbs. The Powers quilts include some of the same animals (pigs, fish, roosters, and birds) as proverbial characters, made in a similar style. Traditionally, in Dahomey, cloth figures were first basted onto the background cloth. Sometimes a chain stitch is directed away from the appliqué to ensure smoothness. Until recent years, the figures were made of handwoven cloth. Powers followed a similar construction technique, but used machine-made cloth.
Powers was born a slave in Georgia on October 29, 1837. Her only known quilts were made during the heyday of appliqué. Use of the technique, which was particularly prevalent in the South, was widespread from 1775 to 1875. For her subject matter, Powers drew on narrative folk tradition.
Although she certainly made more quilts, only two known to be made by Powers survive. The quilt now owned by the Smithsonian
... (1989 of 25923 Characters)
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