Melrose Quilt
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Object Details
- Artist
- Clementine Hunter, born near Cloutierville, LA 1886/7-died near Natchitoches, LA 1988
- Gallery Label
- Clementine Hunter was born on a Louisiana plantation where her grandparents had been slaves. When she was twelve, her family moved to Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches Parish to work as sharecroppers. Clementine worked as a field hand, cook, and housekeeper. The Henry family bought Melrose in 1884; they restored architectural structures on the property and moved historic log cabins from the area onto the property. When John Hampton Henry died, his wife Cammie made Melrose a retreat for visiting artists. Hunter’s exposure to artists and some leftover paints led her to own artistry. She painted quotidian stories she felt historians overlooked—primarily the activities of the black workers. She also made pictorial quilts. This one depicts several notable buildings at Melrose, including the Big House, Yucca House, and African House, in which Hunter painted a now-historic mural of plantation life in 1955.
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Barbara Coffey Quilt Endowment
- ca. 1960
- Object number
- 2014.5
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Decorative Arts-Fiber
- Folk Art
- Quilt
- Medium
- fabric
- Dimensions
- 73 x 60 in. (185.4 x 152.4 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Decorative Arts
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Architecture Exterior\domestic\house
- Record ID
- saam_2014.5
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk77ea4c84f-6096-4bcf-a7a5-882cfe6bfbf5
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