The Rickrack Rag

In Pennsylvania German country, when you deal with antiques you become familiar with the term “Fraktur”. Short for Frakturschrift, it’s the gothic script used in formal penmanship by the Germanic peoples, brought to Pennsylvania in colonial days by the early German immigrants. Because of these peoples’ love of colorful decoration, many of the manuscript items were decorated with colorful embellishments of birds, flowers, angels etc. Examples of early watercolor decorated Fraktur baptismal certificates, bookplates and other manuscript work sometimes sell for many thousands of dollars, depending upon the skill of the artist and the scarcity of his work, among other factors. At one time, we had a few modest examples in our collection, but have passed them along. Nevertheless, they are often glorious examples of Pennsylvania German folk art. Below are two examples from the estate of a long-time dealer friend of ours.

When it comes to textiles, however, there are not many examples of the use of fraktur. However, during the middle 1800’s, there were some quilts made - many in the pattern called Rolling Stone - whose individual blocks bore names of various people. They may have been friends of the owner or maker, members of a group sponsoring or donating the quilt, or celebrating a particular occasion. In most cases the lettering in the fraktur script was done by an experienced penman, often identified on the quilt itself. Several scholars of quilt history have made studies of so-called “Fraktur Quilts”, most notably Lucinda Cawley of Maryland, who presented an article in the 2004 issue of Uncoverings, the annual publication of the American Quilt Study Group.

We have one fraktur quilt in our collection.

According to one central block, it dates to 1877, which according to Ms. Cawley is later than any other she’s seen. The name in the block with the date is that of the scrivener or penman who lettered the inscriptions, one Edward Dinsh, whose work is found on paper fraktur items from both Lehigh and Berks Counties dating from 1875 to 1879.

The rest of the blocks bear names of Lehigh County residents, mostly from Upper Macungie Township. We have been unable to confirm that they were members of the same church or of any other particular group. We bought this one just because we knew so many of the names: Schmoyer, Grammes, Krock, Schwoyer, Schrader, Schlicher, Becker, Steininger, Lichtenwalner, Haines - including Joseph Haines, owner of a local grist mill which is now a historical site.

We have pictures of more of the blocks, plus other detail pictures of the quilt on this page.

Years ago we also found a pair of patchwork pillowcases (which are much scarcer than quilts), one of which was inscribed in the gothic Fraktur script with the name of it’s Lehigh County owner or maker. These have since been sold to a new home.

If you took German in school before a certain time, you may have learned to read a version of Fraktur; most of the texts were printed in this font before the 1970’s or so. So Bill doesn’t have much trouble reading these and other inscriptions; it’s considerably more difficult however, in old-style German longhand.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918 was when the armistice ending the hostilities of World War 1, “the war to end all wars”, or “The great war”. When we were little children, November 11th was still celebrated as Armistice Day, despite the fact that another, larger war had since intervened. However, because of that fact, and because also the military action in Korea had also taken place, in 1954 November 11th was renamed Veterans Day, to honor the American veterans of all wars.
The last time we were at the VA clinic, the people there wished Bill (a Vietnam veteran), “Happy Veterans Day!” We would like to extend that sentiment to all of America’s veterans, and thank them for their service to our country.
In honor of the holiday, (which only seems to be a holiday for the banks and the post office) I decided to feature a couple of items from the time of the original celebration. These pillow covers no doubt made it home to the USA from soldiers stationed in France during WWI.

If you’re familiar with the souvenir pillow covers found at many military bases, as well as vacation spots around the country, you know that they’re usually flimsy, printed with verses for mother or sweetheart; these are a whole different animal. Made from fine silk, and embroidered with silk and metallic threads, the workmanship and composition are beautiful. Another example of how wonderful things were back in the early 1900’s - and especially textiles from France, which were of course bordered in fine French lace.

One of these can currently be found for sale in our eBay store, the other has been sold.

This time of year, I’m used to seeing red. Every time I approach the front of the house, the brightness catches my eye through the window. This Japanese red maple is my favorite tree, just on the other side of our garden.

The presidential election of 2008 was a historic event by anyone’s standard. We voted in our accustomed place, a local church.

We arrived around 8:00 AM, and we were #52 and #53 to vote. Pennsylvania has been a blue state the last 5 elections; but until this year our county was red.

This year, we helped to turn the county blue. A hopeful spirit pervades the area, and our country. May our hope prove well founded, and may our country move forward, bringing all of us closer together rather than dividing us more deeply.

These photos, along with thousands of others from around the country (and the world) are featured on the New York Times’ Polling Place Photo Project.

Today Bill and I celebrated our 13th anniversary together - and we always celebrate the same way. Good thing it’s on Halloween, so it’s easy to remember.

It was the day of our first “date”, really just a quick conversation over coffee at our local espresso bar, Uptown, in Kutztown, PA. Every year since, we go back and have coffee together - and none of the magic of that first time has worn off. We knew then, and know now that we both found the love of our life that day.

Bowmansville is a small town in Lancaster County, just over the border from Berks. Though it’s close to many other centers of PA German culture, including Amish settlements, for some reason it’s developed its own characteristic style in quilts. What they have in common is that they employ a large number of small square patches to create a larger-scale design. The best known of these is the so-called Bowmansville Star, with a large eight-pointed central star, formed completely of diagonal rows of small square pieces set on a field of rows of contrasting pieces, the whole surrounded by a variety of different border treatments. In the only examples of pictures we found available, two Bowmansville stars show different borders, one a zigzag or dogtooth pattern, the other a zigzag with alternating lights and darks creating more of a sawtooth pattern.

Once you’ve seen the Bowmansville star, it is easily recognized. But not every quilter in Bowmansville preferred the star pattern. Also found among the typical Bowmansville repertoire are variations of the Philadelphia pavement or mosaic style, consisting of a number of juxtaposed areas of concentric diagonal rows of squares.
The one shown at left, a crib quilt, recently set a record for crib quilts at auction, selling for $25,000+. Apparently this one uses strips of fabric instead of squares in the border treatment, but the idea and scale are still the same.

Another example of this style is this full-sized quilt that I found on eBay, which uses only small squares, including all the border areas.

I happen to be lucky enough to have one of these quilts in my own collection.

This one dates from c.1920, but includes mostly fabrics from the turn of the century. One of the charming features is that each of the small squares in the center of a larger square is fussy-cut from one of two different fabrics, centering a flower blossom.

Again, it’s easy to see why this regional style might have developed; that is, these quilts do seem to cause a quilter some inspiration. Indeed, several of my friends have been so intrigued with this style that they’ve decided to make reproductions for themselves.

I continue to be intrigued by regional styles in quilts; certainly, Pennsylvania German quilts as a whole have their own style, but within this broad category are many sub-styles. The Lancaster County Amish quilts are recognizably distinct from quilts fashioned in other Amish communities. Certain other groups or areas had their own particular fabric choices, patterns or designs. But most intriguing of all are these insular examples, from one town or county, such as the Bowmansville quilts or the applique quilts I featured here earlier. There are probably many, many such designs, and I hope to learn of more and possibly present them here.

We’ve had our first frost, so except for a few things that were covered, the growing season has come to an end. We’re still picking some late red raspberries, and we’ll harvest the last of the basil to make pesto. The leaves are in full color.

Yesterday, Tim had a party to celebrate the end of the season - a pig roast, along with all sorts of side dishes and a large number of desserts, many brought from New York by guests. The attendees were the very picture of diversity - a large number of Mexican farm hands, complete with a mariachi band: trombone, trumpet, clarinet and drums! There were Mennonites who arrived by horse & buggy, family and friends, and a number of Manhattanites, from Tim’s agent and editor to various chefs.

The weather was perfect, cool but not a single cloud, and just a light breeze. All in all it was a fitting tribute to the products of the farm this year (including Tim’s book) and to all those who helped make it happen - and as usual, all the food was delicious.

We’ve featured both our trapunto dresser covers and our trapunto quilt here, but there are still more examples of delicious white on white. Not the least of these is one we just bought last week, another dresser cover.

But this one is not stuffed work; rather it’s embroidered in a technique that includes satin stitch and a fuzzy, raised chenille work. We believe it’s all cotton, both the backing fabric and the embroidered parts, smooth and fuzzy.

The motifs on this piece are very similar to the ones on the stuffed work or trapunto pieces I’ve described before; a central basket of fruit, in this case flanked by oak leaves and acorns on the left and a grapevine on the right. Though I haven’t yet researched this piece, I believe it to date to around the same time as the others as well, most likely pre- civil war.


The close-up above shows the various uses of embroidery to represent the fruits, leaves and basket. Below is a view from the back, showing more of the details of the fine embroidery work.

Since I’ve not seen a dressing table cover like this before, I’m wondering if this one is even rarer than the stuffed work covers? Of course I’ll follow this up with any more information I may find.

I promised I’d write about some of what I’d found at our fall show, so here’s one thing.

I came to one seller’s stand and she had a box still full of miscellaneous linens that she had not unpacked. She allowed me to look through it, and though it was filled mostly with non-descript dresser scarves and towels, near the bottom I came across some lovely blue linens. Indeed, there was a blue organdy Madeira tablecloth and eight matching linen napkins.

As I unearthed them, I realized that the quality of the embroidery and cutwork was truly outstanding. And of course I purchased them immediately, as the seller didn’t seem to realize that they were any more remarkable than the other items in the box.


And I’ve learned over the years to recognize that such high quality usually came from only one maker, the Marghab shops of Vera Way Marghab. I’ve been meaning to get a copy of Cline’s Perfection, Never Less, the definitive book about Marghab, but haven’t yet done so. But when I got to my computer I checked with the website of the South Dakota Art Museum, whose definitive Marghab linens collection is unrivaled. Sure enough, my 40 inch Margandie tablecloth and 8 linen napkins were Marghab’s Shell pattern in a lovely shade of blue.

As usual, I have no need for these lovely items, nor any way to display them - so they’ll be offered for sale, and be truly appreciated by some new owner.

More from the show later, including a Colorado souvenir tablecloth… and of course I found some feedsacks to help supply the constant demand.

We’ve been trying for some time to gather more information about an unusual applique quilt pattern we’ve found in this area - and only in this area. Oddly, though the pattern is uncommon, we’ve found a relatively large number of them in several variations.

This particular quilt is composed usually of two different but related applique blocks. Related in that they both feature the French fleur-de-lis as part of the design, one block with four and the other with eight around the central flower. The block with four fleurs-de-lis augments each with a daisy and a tulip, while the one with eight includes ovals of reverse applique within the “snowflake” design.

There are a number of more common applique quilt patterns, the typical Rose of Sharon and its variations along with Prince’s Feather, Pomegranate, and Carolina Lily - most of these found all over the northeast and often beyond. But though we’ve handled hundreds of quilts and seen many more, the only ones that we’ve seen with this pattern have been from right here, from estates either in Northern Berks or Northwestern Lehigh County, PA; adjoining areas of Pennsylvania “Dutch” farm country.

One example was featured in a Berks County historical society quilt show, and is shown on the cover of the magazine featuring that show.

We know the owner of that quilt, and it is the only one of the group whose maker and date are known. It was made in Virginville, Berks Co. PA in 1900. Obviously, there are variations on the theme, and this one features a center block different from the other two.

Other variations are, of course, the color of the background fabric, the border treatment, size, and other fabric variations. The 1900 date seems to us to be a little later than we might expect; indeed we believe most of the others we’ve seen probably date just a little earlier, but of course could have been made in 1900 or later from earlier fabric. Regarding the background color, we note that we’ve seen only one with a plain white background, the one shown at the beginning of this post. This one we found at auction in Lehigh County:

This one also features that different center block along with the fleurs-de-lis.

Another, that we saw in another dealer’s online catalog also features that center block, as well as the zigzag inner border, common to all our examples so far. This one, we were told by the dealer, is also from Berks County, and features a brown on white print for its background fabric. We know of no other applique quilt pattern that so often uses a background other than white.

We found another variation in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln:
This one features a dogtooth inner border, and uses an orange pinstripe fabric for the background. The center attributes the quilt as “possibly made in Lancaster County, PA”, though we hope that our findings serve to correct that notion.

Of all the different backgrounds, perhaps our favorite is the one in double “Lancaster” blue with its vibrant color contrasts. Oddly enough this is the variation we’ve seen and owned most often, 2 different quilts as well as 2 quilt tops. This example features a straight line red inner border, and instead of a solid back has bars of alternating yellow and double pink calicos.

We could say that we haven’t seen any example of a quilt using either of the two different applique blocks without the other, but that wouldn’t be precisely true. We haven’t seen a full sized one, but this crib quilt, using only one applique, features one of our two patterns. This one also hails from Berks County.

We find the occurrence of these unusual quilts as an interesting phenomenon in the history of quilting; apparently a highly localized traditional pattern that, at least in our findings so far, is exclusive to a very small geographic area. Though they vary slightly in pattern, somewhat in size, and greatly in fabric choices, they share the two fleur-de-lis blocks, fabrics from the 4th quarter 19th century and locale.

We have to surmise that the pattern, once originated, was shared among friends in a quilting circle, maybe through church affiliation, family ties or grange membership, or by some other vehicle. It’s easy to understand how an experienced needleworker might have been drawn to this pattern and wanted to duplicate it. We hope to continue to find examples of this unusual pairing of applique blocks - hopefully anyone knowing the whereabouts, provenance or date of any will let us know. It would be especially intriguing to find one that originated elsewhere, or outside the end of the 19th century time period; though a single example among the number that we’ve seen would not necessarily change our attribution of local origins of the pattern.