QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-5738

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

10.0314

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

6646.1

Object label:

Oak Leaf
Artist unknown
ca. 1850
Probably Alabama.
Collection of the Michigan State University Museum, acc.#6646.

Essay:

This finely stitched Oak Leaf quilt block has been attributed to an Alabama slave, a relative of Mattie Baker of Inkster, Michigan. The block was one of seven indentical blocks passed down through Baker's family. In 1972, Baker gave the blocks to her friend Patricia Anderson of Roscommon, who pieced six of them together of form a small quilt top. Anderson donated the seventh block to the Michigan State University Museum in 1987.

Quilt's title:

Oak Leaf

Quilt top made by:

Unknown, attributed to a slave

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, state:

Alabama (AL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

1850-1875

When was the quilt finished?

c1840-1860

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

African American

This is a:

Quilt blocks or pieces

How wide is the quilt?

19"

How long is the quilt?

19"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Blue; Cream

Antique colors:

Prussian Blue or Lafayette Blue

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Describe the binding:

This block is mounted in a frame with glass.

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

No filling

How are the layers held together?

Not quilted

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilting Sisters: African-American Quilting in Michigan at the MSU Museum, East Lansing, MI, 2/3-9/29/1991; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI, 11/10-1991-1/1/1992; Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI, 2/23-4/5/1992; Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI, 1/14-3/7/1993; Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI, 1/13-2/13/2000; Port Huron Museum, Port Huron, MI, 9/8-10/21/2001; Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Kalamazoo, MI, 6/22-9/28/2002; The Castellani Art Museum, Niagara Falls, NY, 3/13-4/24/2005; Lapeer Center for the Arts, Lapeer, MI, 10/7-11/3/2007. Evolutionary Artifacts, MSU Museum, East Lansing, MI, January-April, 2011.

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

MacDowell, Marsha, ed. African-American Quiltmaking in Michigan, Michigan State University Press, 1997.

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)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Unknown

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Who photographed this quilt?

Pearl Yee Wong

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees