1847 Mary Hill's Album Quilt
date: label: Date made
content: 1847
name: label: quilter
content: Ladies of the Presbyterian Church
notes: label: Description
content: The large central square contains the inscription: “Presented to Mrs. Mary B. Hill as an expression of esteem by the Ladies of Maltaville.” Mary B. Hill was the wife of Reverend William Hill (1814-1851) of the Presbyterian-Congregational Church of Maltaville, New York. She was born November 13, 1816, to Benton (1786-?) and Elizabeth Barnard in Litchfield, Connecticut. She married on July 13, 1836 and they had one son, Roland. Mary died May 5, 1862, in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1847, women in the church made, joined, lined, and quilted sixty blocks, in addition to the dedicatory center block, to create this example of an album quilt.
label: Description
content: Album quilt blocks often contain name, date, or place, and sometimes a poem or verse of special meaning. Almira E. Olmstead added this to her block:
label: Description
content: The Tulip and the Butterfly
label: Description
content: Appear in gayer coats than I
label: Description
content: Let me be dressed fine as I will
label: Description
content: Flies, worms, and flowers, exceed me still.
label: Description
content: The lines are from “Against Pride in Clothes,” published in 1720 by Isaac Watts (1674–1748), a well-known English hymn writer whose verse is often found on quilts of the period.
label: Description
content: The appliquéd blocks are embellished with embroidered details in addition to the inked inscriptions. Flowers, leaves, hearts, stars, crescents, double ovals around the signatures, and other motifs are found in the quilting. As a token of appreciation, this quilt displays the fine quilting skills of the “Ladies of Maltaville.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
label: Subject
content: Church
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Religion
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content: Textiles
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content: Quilts
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content: Artifact Walls exhibit
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Isaac Carrington Morton
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T06717
label: catalog number
content: T06717.000
label: accession number
content: 109459
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
label: Object Type
content: quilts
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton, silk (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 92 in x 91 in; 234 cm x 232 cm