DAR Museum: Eye on Elegance Quilt Exhibit

Detail of Applique Flower Basket Quilt 

by Anna Catharine Hummel Markey Garnhart, 

date-inscribed 1849

For those who are fascinated by early quilts, the show of the year is now open at the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington D.C.

Eye on Elegance: Early Quilts of Maryland and Virginia opened October 3rd and will be on view through September 5, 2015.

http://www.dar.org/museum/exhibitions

Mathematical Star by Amelia Heiskell Lauck 

and/or Eliza Jane Sowers Lauck 

Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costume and Textiles, looks at quilts from Maryland and Virginia with a focus on quilts from 1790 to 1860. She found room in the gallery for 36 spectacular examples. 

Over the past few years Alden and a team of volunteers have done a good deal of research on these elegant quilts, building on the work of past curators such as Gloria Seaman Allen and Nancy Gibson.

Because it is the D.A.R., the museum emphasizes genealogy research, so the information about the makers goes far beyond the typical museum label.

Go to the online exhibition to get a glimpse of how great this exhibit is.

http://eyeonelegance.dar.org/

You'll start planning your trip to the nation's capital right away. 

http://www.dar.org/museum

The DAR Museum is across the street from the White House, quite an impressive neighborhood.

Read a guest post by Alden on her research on this blog last year:
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2013/08/anna-catharine-garnhart-by-alden-obrien.html

Alden and I have been interested in an important detail of the attribution of the quilt...The "and/or" part of the label. 

Applique Flower Basket Quilt 

by Anna Catharine Hummel Markey Garnhart, 

date-inscribed 1849

Read some of my thoughts about the work of A.C.H.M. Garnhart at this post:
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2013/04/elizabeth-welchs-eagle-quilt.html

And see videos in the online exhibit:
http://eyeonelegance.dar.org/exhibition/applique-quilts

Here's a link to a list of YouTube videos from the DAR
https://www.google.com/#q=dar+museum+youtube