Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon (Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies)
Just as people who buy the New Yorker for its cartoons feel they’ve gotten their money’s worth without reading beyond the punch lines, readers may take this up for the pictures alone: they are sumptuous... [Smucker] writes appealingly and clearly, always defining quilt jargon and explaining cultural mores as she tells of the seemingly humble Amish quilts and the people who have loved them.(Publishers Weekly (starred review))The gap between what artisans intend and what dealers and owners come to believe is entertainingly conveyed in this study by the textiles historian Janneken Smucker... The book is timely since the history of folk art collection is under scrutiny.(Eve KahnNew York Times)Janneken Smucker offers a comprehensive study of Amish quilts in context, placing them beyond the Brethren communities into the wider world of commerce and culture. She insightfully explores the Amish quilt and its role among critics and galleries, dealers and pickers, hired seamstresses, folk art gurus, and American mythmakers.(Barbara Brackman, quilt historian)This book is a landmark not only in the field of quilt history but also in American social history. The author traces the cultural biography of Amish quilts from the hands of their makers to the hands of their collectors, with many stops in between. The extraordinary color plates reveal the beauty of Amish quilts, while the impeccably researched text reveals the complexity of this craft tradition.(Janet Berlo, University of Rochester)Smucker’s excellent book is beautifully written and will significantly advance the scholarship in quilt studies and, more broadly, material culture studies and art history. This is the book that will stand as the authoritative text on Amish quiltmaking.(Marsha MacDowell, Michigan State University Museum)Janneken Smucker has woven together facts about a fascinating and complex people—their history and their quilts—and has completely pulled back the curtain (or should I say quilt?), like no one else before to reveal the inside history about collecting and commerce of these prized objects. This is a book many of us have been waiting for.(Roderick Kiracofe, author ofThe American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort, 1750–1950)Smucker's engaging writing style and keen sense of American history and consumerism makes this book suitable for academic libraries that service art and fashion programs, textile collections and museums, and public repositories in communities where craft is integral to daily life.(Joe FestaArt Libraries Society of North America)The story of the rise of Amish quilts tells us more about the values of the art world than it does about the Amish. Yet it is a story that reminds us that constraint fosters creativity, and scarcity creates desire.(Betsy ChildsFirst Things)It is handsomely and colorfully designed, playing on the theme of Amish Quilts... Highly recommended.(Choice)Janneken Smuckerknows quilts... she nimbly showcases that knowledge while working to dispel the generalization and stereotypes that have come to shroud Amish quilts...Amish Quiltsis an intellectual crafting not to be missed.