1860 - 1880 "Whig's Defeat" Quilt Top
date: label: date made
content: 1860-1880
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This example of the “Whig’s Defeat” pattern was made in the mid-nineteenth century, probably in Arkansas. The quilter pieced and appliquéd six 25¾-inch blocks, using red and white cottons to make the quilt top. The blocks were set with 3-inch red and white pieced sashing and a 4¼-inch border.
label: Description
content: The pattern, “Whig’s Defeat,” has been linked to the victory of Democrat James Polk, over Whig candidate Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election. Whether the quilter chose the pattern as a political statement or merely for its design is unknown.
label: Description
content: The quilt top was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961. It may have been in the family of Jane Winter Price, who made a “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt that is also in the Collection.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Arkansas
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Textiles
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Miss G. Ruth McHenry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.E387831
label: accession number
content: 188128
label: catalog number
content: E387831
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton, silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 104 in x 92 in; 264.16 cm x 233.68 cm