American Folk Art Museum's Super Star Quilts Opened Yesterday

Stars, some of the most important elements of the natural world, are also a beloved and enduring motif in American quilts. Stars appeared in pieced bedcovers as early as the eighteenth century and remain popular with quilt artists today. The "Super Stars" exhibit illuminates one theme in the textile masterpieces from the  American Folk Art Museum's collection that is on display in the NYC 2 Lincoln Square location  from November 16 to September 25, 2011.

Stars do not make a major appearance in American quilts until the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when they were increasingly used as a pieced field motif. This was no doubt a response, at least in part, to the design of the flag of the newly formed United States. Conceived as a “new constellation,” the canton featured white five-pointed stars against a cobalt background, evoking once again the moral certitude of the heavenly canopy, as well as the strength of America’s victory. By this time, stars were also a strong element in the neoclassical lexicon. Their presence on quilts allowed the tenets of the classical world to resonate with the new republic in a highly fashionable manner.

It was not until the turn of the nineteenth century that a single eight-pointed star moved front and center in whole-cloth quilts, usually pieced in a solid-color glazed wool known as calimanco. But with the invention of the kaleidoscope in 1816, art and science took an unanticipated and dazzling turn. Quiltmakers, especially, embraced the refracted imagery produced by the kaleidoscope. Large single stars now blazed across cotton quilt tops, pieced from multitudes of diamonds that scintillated in rings from the center to the points. Staggered rows of repeated stars danced across the surfaces of bedcovers. By the Victorian era, the aspect of stars changed once again with the influence of exotic ideas from the Near East. Star motifs were interpreted for a new age in silk, velvet, and brocade show quilts.

"Super Stars" , curated by Stacy Hollander, highlights the dazzling diversity of this variable pattern as interpreted through more than one hundred years of quilt artistry. The museum has published a book of 200 of their most significant bedcovers in their collection to coincide with the exhibit. If you can't make the exhibit, get the book;  Quilts, Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum or give it as a gift.

 I have long pointed to the the museum's first quilt book, Glorious American Quilts,  as one of my  most prized books on the subject of quilt history. Beautifully written and photographed, it gives so much information helping me learn about the periods and influences on American quilt making.  I learned how to date quilts in part because of this book.

Given that the same author, Elizabeth V. Warren , and former curator of the museum, also authors their new book, it must be fabulous as we know more than we did in the early 1990s when Glorious was written (published in 1996). Also the museum has added about 100 bedcovers to its collection, including a  late 18th century patchwork quilt made with the Hewson panel in the center.  And yes,  it will also be on display for a time during their Year of the Quilt, in the Masterworks Quilts exhibits. (more on that in another blog post.)

Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum  By Elizabeth V. Warren, with a preface by Maria Ann Conelli, a foreword by Martha Stewart, and an introduction by Stacy C. Hollander. New York: Rizzoli International Publications in association with the American Folk Art Museum, 2010. 336 pages.



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Hewson & the French Connection

My article "John Hewson and the French Connection" is currently in The Magazine ANTIQUES , August 2008 issue. This is my second research paper about John Hewson in less than a year, but I have been engaged in in-depth research about him and his work since 2002.

The first paper appeared last October in FOLK ART Magazine of the American Folk Art Museum. Hewson is considered to be one of the earliest and the finest of chintz block printers in America's history. He emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1773 to set up one of the first textile printing factories here. His goal was to dye and print cotton and linen fine enough to compete with England's dyed and printed cottons. Colorfast printing on cotton was still new to the Western world at that time and they loved it; colorful cottons from India, called chintz, were all the rage around the world and now Europe and America would be competitors.

A small number of textiles printed by Hewson exist today (as far as we know there are twenty-eight) and the majority of them have a large vase holding a bouquet of garden flowers placed in the middle of a square printed panel. The quilt maker often placed this panel in the middle of a medallion or frame quilt. Or the vase and flowers design was carefully cut-out of the chintz and appliquéd to a different background in a quilt.

The vase and flowers are colorful and naturalistic in their depiction. Hewson's influence was thought to be from his homeland and from Dutch flower paintings. A closer look at the neoclassical decorations on the vase indicated to me that it was in fact more like the decorative arts I was seeing made in France in the last quarter of the 18th century. With the decorative arts as my field for research, I became more convinced of the French connection as I went along. Then in 2004 I found the source of his design!

What I reveal in this important paper is the late 18th century French arabesque wallpaper in the Louis XVI style from which Hewson borrowed the vase and flowers design to print onto cotton. He took the central portion of the vertically repeating design on the wallpaper, adapting the tip top of his flowers and bottom of base of his vase, to show a complete free-standing design.

The wallpaper curators of museums in France and America are of the belief that this wallpaper was from the atelier Jean Baptiste Réveillon, whose manufactory was known for producing the finest luxurious arabesque wallpapers at that time. 1780-1790. Who printed the French wallpaper I discuss in this article, is not certain as it is not stamped with a manufactory and it is not in the sample books of Réveillon's wallpapers kept at various museums. However, the late 18th century printing was likely printed at his manufactory after he retired, by the new owners were Jacquemart and Benard.

I also reveal how the manner of Chinese wallpaper artists probably affected Hewson's designs and choices he made for the lay-out of his panel. This is not to be confused with the style called chinoiserie. The manner of early Chinese wallpaper artists, who were the first to make wallpaper, is the influence I write about here and it is significant.

Wonderful photos accompany my article. The highlight of all the photos however is the pair of portraits of John and Zibiah Hewson!! Their portraits have not been published before.

I will be publishing more of my research findings and assessments about John Hewson’s life and his work. I am available for lectures and presentations. To talk about this further please contact me directly at a different email address, quiltdating@gmail.com or go to my website for the phone and address at http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/ I welcome your inquires and contributions!

The month is nearly over, so if you haven't found a copy yet, order one from the publisher by email: avalarezo@brantpub.com or to subscribe call 212.941.2806. Some Borders and Barnes & Nobles sell the magazine, as well as other fine bookstores, and many libraries subscribe.

Enjoy,
Kim

Kimberly Wulfert, PhD

John Hewson Textile

I have some wonderful news to share with those of you interested in the 18th century printer, John Hewson.

In my research article "The Man of Many Vases: John Hewson Calico Printer," FOLK ART magazine of the American Folk Art Museum, (Fall 2007), I describe the 2005 acquisition of a Hewson printed panel by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. This textile brings the total number of documented individual panels to 4. (their measurements vary but average around 30" X 30") Previous to the auction, it was in a private collection in NJ. A very exciting find and now you all can see it.

A photo of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Hewson printed panel is now on their website!

I describe 28 textiles that contain printing by Hewson. They are the only ones known to exist at this time. The article includes several large photos and details of his work, including one quilt never seen publicly and one panel seldom seen before. The first half of the 11 page article is biographical, including new information.

To order the magazine call the museum: 212-265-1040, ext.124. You can view the magazine's article list here FOLK ART. When you join the museum, the magazine is included, so consider that option too.

After viewing the photos, if you realize you have one of these in your closet or if ever see one not listed in the article, let me know!!

Piece,
Kim