The Quilt in the Picture

Photograph purchased in Texas, probably from about 1910

Georgia artist and historian Vista Ann Mahan is the expert on quilts in old photos. For years she has been collecting pictures of people with quilts as backdrops. She also has collected information about the photograph style, finding it to be a Southern regionalism.

Vista in a portait for Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts about 1991

Those of us who collect old photos come across these occasionally in antique shops. With the advent of online auctions we have more access to them, but the competition for the photos tends to be tough. Somebody always bids $1 more than I am willing to pay.

A recent online auction piece

In her paper on the topic for the American Quilt Study Group in 1991 Vista found that of the 59 photos she could date at the time, the most common time frame was between 1891-1920. One portrait of her family with a quilt backdrop dates to 1860.

Vista believes that these photos were done by itinerant professionals. Rural people remembered photographers who came "to a community once or twice a year, stopping by all the farms inquring if families wanted their picture made."

The examples she found were primarily from the Southeastern U.S. although she had one Canadian example.

We can imagine that the quilt in the picture provided both physical background and symbolic status. In this case, the use of a T-patterned quilt MAY have symbolized the girl's enthusiasm for Temperance ideals.

Vista's paper "Quilts Used as Backdrops in Old Photographs" was published in the research papers of the American Quilt Study Group: Uncoverings 1991. See ordering information by clicking here:
http://www.americanquiltstudygroup.org/uncoveringsList.asp

If all this sounds interesting to you you will want to attend this year's American Quilt Study Group Seminar in Minnesota on October 14-17, 2010.
Click here for more information:
http://www.americanquiltstudygroup.org/seminar.asp
It's the place for quilt history.

See family photos by clicking on these links.
http://mcguffin.com/100yrs.html
http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/displayphoto.cfm?IMGTITLE=RC17818
Photographers often used coverlet and tablecloths for backdrops too.
http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/photodetectiveblog/2007/04/26/BlanketBackdrop.aspx