Quilt
Artist
Mary Louise Fuller
(American, born 1854)
Datec. 1881
MediumSilk, velvet, brocade, ribbon
DimensionsOverall: 72 × 60in. (182.9 × 152.4cm)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Cornelia Fuller Codner
Terms
Object number74.82.1
DescriptionCrazy quilt composed of silks, velvets, and brocades with embroidery and maroon velvet border. The lining is a striped silk (red ground and white stripe). The layers are joined together with fill ties made from red ribbon tied in bowknots. One patch is decorated with an embroidered Eastern star emblem. Embroidered in center: "F" and at left of center, "E.D.F."On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextThe deep red velvet border of this quilt seems barely able to contain all the texture, color, and shape found within it. The eye moves across its surface looking for a pattern or a place to rest, but is left wanting. The fans at the corners, common motifs in crazy quilts that reference their oriental inspiration, help to frame the work but as one looks closer they find a bewildering array of images—flowers, ducks, moths, a spider web, a child holding a bonnet beside an overgrown butterfly. While some of the imagery is purely fanciful, some motifs carry symbolic meaning. In the Victorian-era’s language of flowers, pansies could mean remembrance and daisies could represent innocence. The spider web was sometimes associated with notions of good luck and prosperity in Asian culture, but also invites a comparison between the quilter, building a fantastical environment out of thread, and the spider spinning her web. The identity of the maker, Mary Louise Fuller, is suggested by the large “F” embroidered at the center of the quilt.
