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Some antique quilts make political statements, such as this signed and dated 1898 Iowa flag quilt commemorating the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a four-month conflict between Spain and the United States fought over Cuban independence. The war developed into a global conflict, as demonstrated by the flags on this quilt, which is offered with a $7,000-$9,000 estimate in Cowan’s Auctions’ May 22, 2010 sale titled The American Scene: Decorative Art. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Cowan’s Auctions.

Milwaukee museum features quilt exhibition

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Some antique quilts make political statements, such as this signed and dated 1898 Iowa flag quilt commemorating the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a four-month conflict between Spain and the United States fought over Cuban independence. The war developed into a global conflict, as demonstrated by the flags on this quilt, which is offered with a $7,000-$9,000 estimate in Cowan’s Auctions’ May 22, 2010 sale titled The American Scene: Decorative Art. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Cowan’s Auctions.
Some antique quilts make political statements, such as this signed and dated 1898 Iowa flag quilt commemorating the Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War was a four-month conflict between Spain and the United States fought over Cuban independence. The war developed into a global conflict, as demonstrated by the flags on this quilt, which is offered with a $7,000-$9,000 estimate in Cowan’s Auctions’ May 22, 2010 sale titled The American Scene: Decorative Art. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Cowan’s Auctions.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A new exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum will feature one of the world’s finest collections of early American quilts.

Featuring rare textiles of the late 1700s and early 1800s, it’s called “American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection,” and it runs Saturday through Sept. 6, 2010.

Quilts make political statements, celebrate marriages, and document the textile trade.

Many of the 40 quilts were collected Henry Francis du Pont, one of the 20th century’s most avid antique collectors and horticulturists. They were featured in the Winterthur Museum & Country Estate in Delaware.

The museum will also present the quilt designed in 1987 by AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin honoring Milwaukee residents who died from AIDS. The NAMES Project Foundation AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on view June 8 through June 20.

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