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| Harriet Powers was both a famous African American slave and an artist. She created the pictorial quilt above from Bible stories in 1898. |
Shown are the Bible quilt 1886 and pictorial quilt 1898 by Harriet Powers. Both quilts consist of numerous pictorial squares depicting either biblical scenes or celestial phenomena. Hand and machine stitched, they were made through appliqué and piecework, demonstrating both African and African American influences; they are notable for their bold use of these techniques in storytelling. The reason for Powers' interest in celestial bodies is unclear; it has been suggested that they had religious significance for her, or were related to a fraternal organization of some sort. Her interpretations of both quilts have survived, though they likely have been influenced by their recorders. Although we now know that Powers was literate, she might have used her quilts as teaching tools.
In 2009, a copy of an 1896 letter from Harriet Powers to a prominent Keokuk, Iowa woman surfaced. In the letter Powers shares insights into her life as a slave, when she learned to read and write, and descriptions of at least four quilts she stitched.
The history of the second quilt is unclear. One account suggests that it was commissioned by the wives of faculty members of Atlanta University, who had seen the first quilt at the Cotton States Exhibition in Atlanta in 1895. According to another source, the quilt was purchased in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1898. Whatever its origins, the piece was presented to the Reverend Charles Cuthbert Hall of New York City, who was serving as the vice-chairman of the university's board of trustees at the time. The reverend's heirs sold the quilt to collector Maxim Karolik, who then donated it to the museum in Boston. (Wikipedia)
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| This is Harriet Powers pictorial quilt from 1886 |
African-American Folk Artist Harriet Powers.
Harriet Powers: A Freed Slave Tells Stories Through Quilting.
Southern American quilting: Harriet Powers.
Tributes via Quilts.
