Destined to be one of the most useful and visually stunning references on quilts and quilting with more than 300 color images, “ Four Centuries Of Quilts: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection” by noted scholars Linda Baumgarten and Kimberly Smith Ivey with a foreword by Ronald L. Hurst, will be published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in association with Yale University Press on Tuesday, Oct. 28 ($75).
As the authors comment in the book about the significance of quilts and why it is important to study them today, "Quilt making transcends time. In addition to their warmth and beauty, quilts symbolize the unique experiences and contributions of women - both past and present. As…direct highways to the past, other cultures, and other peoples, quilts are important historical documents. They are a wealth of information, as informative as a history class, and certainly more beautiful and enjoyable to study."
Each quilt in the book is both a work of art as well as a historic document offering revealing clues to the past. The quilts in the Colonial Williamsburg collection featured in “Four Centuries Of Quilts” range from late-16th-century works made in India and the Mediterranean for export to the West to quilts made by widely varying religious and cultural groups in 18th- and 19th-century continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Colonial America and, later, the United States. These latter examples from the 18th- to 20th-century America reflect the multicultural nature of American society and were made by Anglo-American, Amish, Mennonite, Pennsylvania German, African American and Hawaiian quilt makers; they include boldly colored and patterned worsteds and brilliant pieced and appliquéd works of art and pristine white bedcovers.
Exploring such topics as "What is a Quilt?," "Quilt Names," and "Quilting and Society," the book showcases exquisite examples of not only works from the various geographic regions but also of popular designs, including the Mariner's Compass and Star, as well as pieces in pure white and those in the classic red-and-white motif. Album quilts, "make do" utilitarian styles and quilts made for "show and admiration" (rather than for practical use), are all examined. The book also offers fascinating information about some of the people who created these hand-made cloth masterpieces. The book is 368 pages with 320 color and 54 black-and-white illustrations. The publication of “Four Centuries of Quilts” was made possible by a generous grant from Mary and Clinton Gilliland and the Turner-Gilliland Family Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
To accompany the book, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, will offer an exhibition, “A Celebration of American Quilts,” featuring 12 examples that are the best of their type and, as a whole, represent the breadth of the American quilts in the Colonial Williamsburg collection. The exhibition, which will officially open to coincide with the book's publication, will be on view through May of 2016.
The authors, in their closing remarks to the book, comment: "Through the study of quilts, we learn about the evolution of styles and fashion; social, political and economic issues of particular times and places; and the importance of family and community ties." Perhaps their quote from Mensie Lee Pettway, a 20th-century African American quilt maker from Alabama, best describes why quilts have remained so significant throughout the centuries: "A lot of people make quilts just for your bed, for to keep you warm. But a quilt is more. It represents safekeeping, it represents beauty, and you could say it represents family history."
For more information, visit www.history.org or www.yalebooks.com.