The Amish have been referred to as plain people, but there is nothing plain about their quilts. The artistry of the Amish tradition will be on full display at the de Young Museum when the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) presents “Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown” in the Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Textile Gallery. The exhibition, which opens November 14 and runs to June 6, features 48 full-size and crib quilts that showcase the diversity of the Amish quilt tradition, as well as the connoisseurship of collectors Faith and Stephen Brown.
Amish faith embodies principles of simplicity, humility, discipline and community, yet Amish quilts are anything but humble. Using a rich color palette and bold patterns, the quilts are visual distillations of Amish culture and a truly unique contribution to American textile history. The works’ abstract patterns complement their craftsmanship and complexity.
The quilts in the exhibition originated in communities throughout Pennsylvania and the Midwest and date from the 1880s to the 1940s, the height of Amish quilt production. Exhibition curator Jill D’Alessandro of FAMSF explained, “Although Amish women first learned quiltmaking from their ‘English’ [non-Amish] neighbors, they quickly developed a unique sensibility of their own, coupling distinctive choices of quilt patterns and fabrics with unusual spatial arrangements.”
The Amish approach to quiltmaking is informed by social structure and religious belief, and each community has adopted distinctive methods and techniques. It is commonly believed that the conservative Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Penn., were the first Amish to make quilts. Their quilts are renowned for their high-quality wool and surprising color choices; common Lancaster County patterns include Center Diamond, Bars, and Sunshine and Shadow.
The largest Amish settlement in the United States is in Holmes County, Ohio. The Holmes County community is less conservative than the Lancaster community, and the diverse quilts of Holmes County reflect this. The women of Holmes County often used black as a background color to set off the jewel-like hues of their piecework, a choice rarely made by mainstream American quiltmakers. Common patterns used among Holmes County Amish include Roman Stripe, Ocean Waves, Bowtie and Tumbling Blocks.
The de Young Museum is at 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive in Golden Gate Park. For information, 415-750-3600 or www.famsf.org .
