A remarkable example of late 19th century American quiltmaking at its most ambitious and labor-intensive — this vintage 'Postage Stamp' quilt is composed of hundreds of tiny fabric squares, each barely larger than a postage stamp, hand-pieced together with extraordinary precision into a composition of impressive scale and visual complexity. The sheer quantity of individual pieces involved in this quilt — each cut by hand, each sewn by hand — makes it one of the most patient and determined acts of creative labor in the entire American quilt tradition.
'Postage Stamp' quilts were a form of showcase quilt — made to demonstrate the maker's skill, patience, and access to a wide variety of fine fabrics — and the finest examples were regarded with great admiration in the communities where they were made. This late 19th century example, in its remarkable state of preservation after more than a century, is a testament to both the quality of its construction and the care with which it has been kept. American quilts represent one of the great folk art traditions of North America — textile objects that combined the practical necessity of warmth with an artistic ambition that was entirely the maker's own. The finest American quilts, particularly those from the Amish and Mennonite communities of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are now collected with the same seriousness as paintings and prints, their bold geometric designs and extraordinary quality of hand stitching placing them at the apex of American decorative art.
