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1974.609.26, Quilt
Quilt, Pieced Chimney Sweep
1974.609.26, Quilt

Quilt, Pieced Chimney Sweep

Date1850 (dated)
Artist/Maker Kate H. Tupper (1833-1900)
OriginAmerica, South Carolina, Charleston
MediumPlain and printed cottons with ink inscriptions
DimensionsOH 99 x OW 98" (251 x 249 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Grace Hartshorn Westerfield
Object number1974.609.26
DescriptionThis is a pieced quilt of glazed, printed, and plain cottons consisting of twenty-five full blocks, twelve half blocks, and four quarter blocks set on point with floral-printed sashing. The quilt blocks are pieced in a stepped design with white crosses in the center known as Chimney Sweep. The quilt is bordered with two different glazed cottons of red, green, and brown with a repeat of flowers, leaves, and birds. It is backed in plain cotton and bound with a one-half-inch beige twill tape. The bedcover is quilted in 6-8 running stitches in straight lines that form concentric rectangles, squares, triangles, and diamonds with figure eights in the sashing. Some of the white centers of the blocks are quilted with four-petaled flowers.

In the top center half cross, the quilt is marked in ink “Kate H. Tupper / 1850,” and the center block is quilted with the date and initials, “18 / K H T / 50”

Label TextThis quilt has been pieced in the Chimney Sweep pattern and surrounded by a wide glazed chintz border. The chintz is of red, green, and brown with a repeat of flowers, leaves, and birds. Centered in each of the twenty-five blocks are squares of white fabric forming an even-sided cross, surrounded by stepped blocks in printed cottons. The blocks are separated by sets of printed roses against a black background. In most quilts constructed in this manner one finds a signature centered in each of these crosses, a type of quilt known as a Signature Quilt, designed to be presented to a respected community figure or individual by those who admired him or her. The crosses in this quilt, however, are blank. Did the maker intend this to be an Autograph Quilt, or was she merely utilizing a popular pattern of the day? The variety and vibrancy of the fabrics are worth careful attention, and one may also note the signature (presumably that of the maker) and date written into the center of one edge of the quilt.
ProvenanceAccording to hand-printed information on a 3 x 5 recipe card, the quilt was "Made in Charlston [sic]. S. C. in 1850 By Kate Tupper. Peggy Westerfield Collection--1959."

Catherine (Kate) H. Tupper (1833-1900) made the quilt when she was sixteen years old. In 1850 Kate was living with her parents, Tristam and Eliza Tupper, and her three younger siblings in Charleston, South Carolina. Her father, who was born in Maine, was a merchant. Kate married Samuel Lord, a prominent Charleston attorney, and is buried with him at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.