1830 - 1850 Williams Family's Heptagonal "Sunburst" Quilt
date: label: date made
content: 1830-1850
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: This mid-nineteenth-century quilt, its maker unknown, is from the Williams family of Milton, Pennsylvania. It features an unusual seven-sided sunburst radiating from a seven-pointed star in the center. The skillful quilt maker combined precision piecing with mathematical proficiency to create this intricate geometric figure with its uneven number of sides of equal length. The number seven is echoed in the seven-petal-flowers on the vine encircling the heptagon.
label: Description
content: Nine different assorted small print cottons in reds, greens, browns, and blues contribute to the radiating effect of the center. The heptagon sunburst is surrounded with appliquéd motifs of partridges and May trees cut from an early-nineteenth-century English furnishing chintz. It is quilted with various patterns: herringbone, clamshell, outline and parallel diagonal lines.
label: Description
content: Fancy sunbursts adorn the centers of many mid-nineteenth-century quilts, but most of them have eight sides. The number seven, found significant in many cultures, myths, and legends, represents concepts of completeness, perfection, plenty, security, and safety. The Heptagonal “Sunburst,” donated in 1991, is a complex variation of the more frequently found eight-sided pattern. It is a tribute to workmanship and design in quilting.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Milton
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Robert B. Stephens
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0381.01
label: accession number
content: 1991.0381
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0381.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 92 in x 92 in; 234 cm x 234 cm