Drunkard's Path quilt, unknown maker from the United States

Artwork Overview

Drunkard's Path quilt
circa 1880–1910
Drunkard's Path quilt , circa 1880–1910
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: cotton; piecing; quilting
Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial
Accession number: 1928.0921
Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label: "Quilts! Imported Fabrics, American Treasures," May-2004, Barbara Brackman Calico quilts with a simple color scheme allow the quilt maker to create complex and dramatic patchwork. This pattern, usually called “Drunkard’s Path,” was often made as a warning against the evils of drink. Since blue and white were the colors of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a blue and white quilt in this pattern had much symbolic meaning to those who opposed the sale and consumption of alcohol. The indigo is probably a synthetic dye, made in a test tube, and imported from Germany, which held a worldwide monopoly on its formula until after World War I. The fabric may have been printed in the United States. A few American mills, for example, the Amana Colonies in Iowa, and Steifel in West Virginia, specialized in producing indigo cottons colored with German dyes.