Art Institute of Chicago

Album Quilt

Sarah Ann Wilson (American, active mid-19th century)

Date

1854

Medium

Appliquéd, pieced and embroidered quilt; dyed, undyed and printed cotton plain weave fabrics and cotton and silk velvet fabric; cotton embroidery threads

Culture

New York

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Made before the Civil War, as indicated by the date inscribed in a square in the bottom row, this quilt depicts African American figures who seem to be a family. The figures are sensitively portrayed, with appliquéd and embroidered brown fabric comprising their faces and hands. The familial narrative is reinforced by the hand-and-heart motif in the bottom right corner. The specificity of the portrayal and the similarity of the figures to those in another quilt (depicted here) suggest that these figures may represent the maker's own family. Although historians know little about Wilson, she may have been a free black woman living in New York.

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