Homespun linen, wool, and felt, appliquéd, 28 ¼ x 39 ¼ inches
Through previously described as a crib quilt or coverlet, this was most lively made as a table cover. Its design may represent a marriage and birth through a rich assortment of appliquéd and embroidered designs in the finest folk art tradition. An abundant arrangement of flowering and fruit-bearing branches centered by a tree-of-life emerging from an X-shaped perch upon which sit a pair of large sty6lized doves representing a male and female. The natural home-spun linen field is almost completely filled by the luxuriantly curving branches with boldly delineated leaves, clusters of berries or grapes, and heart-shaped flowers. The whole composition is framed by a narrow blue-and-white homespun binding. The robust and lush design of this table cover relates to an appliquéd and embroidered bedcover in the collection of The American Folk Art Museum, illustrated in Elizabeth V. Warren with Stacy C. Hollander, Expressions of a New Spirit: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art (New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1989), p. 140.
