Untitled (Strips and Bars Quilt)
Unidentified Artist

Details
Title
Untitled (Strips and Bars Quilt)
Artist/Maker
Unidentified Artist
Date
1950–1960
Medium
Acetate and cotton
Dimensions
80 x 60 inches
Credit
Gift of Carl and Marian Mullis
Accession #
2005.333
On View
Currently not on view
The artist who made this quilt alternated “strips and bars” of leftover fabric in warm and cool colors to create a tight composition. Scholars have noted how quilts such as this one bear a resemblance to traditions of weaving from Africa. The string quilt tradition spread from West African countries, including Ghana, to the Southern United States in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. “Strings” refer to the smallest usable rectangles of leftover cloth. In the string quilting tradition, these small pieces of fabric are sewn together to form horizonal and vertical bands.
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