QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-389

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

92.0012

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

7341.1

Object label:

Copy of Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt
American Pacific Enterprises in concert with the Smithsonian Institution
1992
China
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#7341.1, Smithsonian registration #21883

Essay:

This copy was purchased from the Speigel Company mail order catalogue as a study/teaching specimen. It has value as a copy of Powers' quilt but also as an excellent example of the way in which quilts have achieved such enormous popularity that commercial companies are contracting these reproductions for sale to mass markets. This quilt, like many other reproduction textiles, was made in China. Bible stories. From left to right:
(1) Adam and Eve with serpent and other animals
(2) Adam and Eve in the Garden
(3) Satan amidst seven stars
(4) Cain killing Abel and Cain's sheep in the field
(5) Cain getting wife in the land of Nod; various animals
(6) Jacob's ladder
(7) Baptism of Christ, with dove
(8) Crucifixion
(9) Judas with 30 pieces of silver
(10) the Last Supper; Judas is the dark figure
(11) the Holy Family: baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Quilt's title:

Copy of Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Pictorial applique

Name of the group that made the quilt:

American Pacific Enterprises in concert with the Smithsonian

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Purchased the quilt

Where the quilt was made, country:

China

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1992

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Group

Quiltmaker's city:

China

Quiltmaker's country:

China

This is a:

Finished quilt

Shape of edge:

Straight

Number of quilt blocks:

11

Size of quilt blocks:

Scene One: Adam and Eve with the Serpent, elephant, camel, leviathan, and ostrich.

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

Top and bottom only

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Another quilt

Describe the source of the pattern:

Harriet Powers' 1886 Bible Quilt, in the Smithsonian collection

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilts Old & New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt Center, East Lansing, MI, January 12-August 17, 2003, Michigan State University Museum

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

There are many articles relating to the controversy caused by the Smithsonian reproducing their quilts using overseas labor in the FAD 92.51 files.

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

5/7/1992, Spiegel catalog. Made in China for sale to US market

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

This copy was purchased for $300 from the Speigel Company mail order catalogue as a study/teaching specimen. It has value as a copy of Powers' quilt but also as an excellent example of the way in which quilts have achieved such enormous popularity that commercial companies are contracting these reproductions for sale to mass markets. This quilt, like many other reproduction textiles, was made in China. Smithsonian registration #21883

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Who photographed this quilt?

KEVA

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum