Quilt, Pieced Scripture

Date1860-1880

MediumCottons; inked inscriptions

Dimensions97" x 87" above cut-outs (246 x 221 cm); 52" below cut-outs.

Credit LineGift of George Schoellkopf

Object number1990.609.2

DescriptionThis is a pieced, rectangular quilt with corners cut for bed posts. The quilt is formed of 28 separate blocks with Bible verses written in the blocks. (See inscriptions for verses.) Each block is bordered by the same red-on-white printed cotton, forming a quarter-inch sashing on both front and back, in a technique sometimes called "quilt-as-you-go" or a "potholder" quilt. The blocks include four diamonds in a rectangle, 6- and 8-pointed stars, 6 diamonds surrounding a square enclosing four hearts, and a heart in the center of an 8 -pointed star, with hearts in blocks in each of the four corners. The backs of the blocks are all plain unbleached cotton, with a few patches of a lighter, plain unbleached cotton. The batting (filler) is thin overall. The quilting is a simple outline pattern in 8-9 stitches per inch.
Label TextThis quilt is a concrete reminder of religion's importance in nineteenth-century American life. The pious maker of this quilt incorporated 23 Bible inscriptions, hand-written in ink on white cotton and centered within symmetrically ordered geometric blocks. For example, the center block with a heart motif bears the verses, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart." (Jeremiah 17:9-10 and 24:7) Other verses are taken from Psalms, Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Daniel.
InscribedInscriptions are all in ink in script on white cotton patches in the centers of the blocks; all appear to have been added by the same unidentified hand.
Block #6: "There/is a river, the/streams thereof/shall make glad the/city of God; the holy place/of the tabernacles of the/most High. God is/in the midst/of her." (Source: Ps. 46:4 and first part of v. 5)
Block #7: "All/the ends of/the world shall/ remember, and turn UN/to the Lord; and all the kin-/dreds of the nations shall/worship before thee, /for the kingdom/is the Lords." (Source: Ps. 22:27 and first part of v. 28)
Block #8: "He that/goeth forth/and weepeth bear-/ing precious seed, shall, /doubtless, come again with/rejoicing, bringing his/ sheaves with him. /Happy is that/man." (Source: Ps. 126:6 and Ps. 127:5.)
Block #9: "But the/Lord shall en-/dure forever; he hath/prepared his throne for/ judgement; and He shall judge/the world in righteous-/ness. The Lord also/will be a ref/fuge [sic] &c;" (Source: Ps. 9:7 and first part of v. 8, and first part of v. 9)
Block #10: "Oh that/ the Salvation/of Israel were come/out of Zion/When God/bringeth back the captivity of/his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel/shall be glad." (Source: Ps. 14, last part of v. 7)
Block #11: "Though/I walk in the/midst of trouble thou/wilt revive me, thou/shalt stretch forth thine/hand against the wrath/of my enemies and/thy right hand/shall save/me. (Source: Ps. 138:7)
Block #12: "Come now, let/us reason together saith/the Lord: Though your sins be/as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;/ though they be red like crim-/son they shall be/as wool." (Source: Isa 1:18)
Block #13: "And the ransomed of/the Lord shall return,/and come to Zion with/songs, and everlasting/joy shall be upon their/heads and sorrow shall/flee away." (Source: Isa 35:10)
Block #14: "And they/that be wise shall/ shine as the brightness of/the firmament; and they, that turn/many to righteousness, as/ the stars for ever/and ever." (Souce: Da 12:3)‚ Block #15: "Those,/that be plant-/ed in the house/of the Lord, shall flour-/ish in the courts of our God./They shall bring forth fruit/in old age; to show/that the Lord/is upright." (Source: Ps. 92:13; Ps. 92:14 (missing last part); Ps. 92:15 (missing last part)
ProvenanceOwnership prior to donor is unknown.