1850 - 1851 Eliza Jane Baile's "Bride's" Quilt
date: label: date made
content: 1850-1851
name: label: maker
content: Baile, Eliza Jane
notes: label: Description
content: Eliza Jane Baile lovingly stitched and inscribed this cotton album quilt top, finishing a few weeks after her marriage to Levi Manahan in 1851. Original patterns of wreaths of strawberries and flowers are framed by a strawberry vine along the quilt border. Three blocks incorporate inked inscriptions within scrolls. On one corner, one may read “E J Baile. Commenced June 1850” and on the opposite corner, “Finished October 30 185l.” A third scroll has the following sentiment carefully penned:
label: Description
content: “Sweett flowers bright as Indian Sky
label: Description
content: Yet mild as Beauty’s soft blue eye;
label: Description
content: Thy charms tho’ unassuming shed /
label: Description
content: A modest splendoure o’er the mead.”
label: Description
content: Great attention was given to the completion of this quilt. The sawteeth of the border are individually appliquéd and the strawberries stuffed. All of the motifs have outline quilting, with closely quilted background lines, 10 stitches to the inch. The overall design is further enhanced with embroidery and small details drawn in ink or watercolor.
label: Description
content: Eliza Jane Baile, the daughter of Abner Baile (1807-1894) and Frances Pole Baile (1813-1893) was born February 13, 1832, in Maryland. According to Eliza’s obituary, her mother was a descendent of Edward III, King of England. At age nineteen, Eliza married Levi Manahan ((1824-1893) on October 11, 1851. They reared eight children on a farm near Westminster, Carroll County, Maryland.
label: Description
content: Eliza was not only an accomplished quilter, she was also known as a folk artist. One of her oil paintings, <I>Stone Chapel of the Methodist Church</I> is at the Historical Society of Carroll County. Other paintings are owned and treasured by her descendents. An active member of the Stone Chapel United Methodist Church, Eliza also founded a Ladies Mite Society and served as president for 50 years. Mite Societies were voluntary organizations that were established in the nineteenth century to raise monies for mission work.
label: Description
content: Eliza died June 25, 1923, age 91, at her home in Westminster and is buried at the Stone Chapel Cemetery. As her obituary in the <I>Daily News,</I> Frederick, Maryland, notes, “Her Christian character endeared her to many friends. She was well known as an artist.” In 1954, Eliza’s youngest daughter, Addie, donated her mother’s quilt to the Smithsonian. Eliza's artistic abilities are well represented in the “Bride’s Quilt” she designed and made for her marriage.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Carroll county
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
label: Subject
content: Weddings
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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 Miss Addie Baile Manahan
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T011149
label: accession number
content: 202673
label: catalog number
content: T11149
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton, wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 93 in x 93 in; 237 cm x 237 cm