Illustration: Harriet Powers. Bible quilt, 1886.
The quilting work of Harriet Powers is a symbolists dream. The two quilts shown here, detail some of the important stories and legends of the Bible set within a panelled quilt. However, these are by no means pieces that can be judged as either 'naive' or 'folk' art as they were produced by a woman with an instinctive understanding of some of the complex messages underlying the stories. Her use of symbolism is extraordinary and even though it would be jumping to conclusions that may well not be true, it is tempting to believe that Powers, who started life as an American slave, still had at least some tenuous connections to the complex symbolism of Africa. The two pieces seem to share some of creative power of African artwork and the use of symbols, colours and textures make it all the more believable. It is part of the great human tradition of storytelling through pictures and symbols, and although Powers herself was not illiterate as some sources in the past have believed, her work resembles the power imbued by the simplicity of the symbol, much as in the later work of Matisse, though Powers produced these pieces over half a century before Matisse.
Illustration: Harriet Powers. Pictorial quilt, 1898.
I must admit that I first discovered the work of Harriet Powers through the research of Kyra Hicks, so this is not so much an article about the quilting work of Powers, which needs an article in its own right, but more about the extraordinary detective work of Hicks.
Hicks book: This I accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces, is a detailed and comprehensive investigation of Harriet Powers two remaining documented quilts, from their inception to their movement over time from one caring owner to another.
Hicks extensive and meticulous research has left no stone unturned, and as she unfolds the story of the quilts history through a series of careful and loving owners, each with their own often complex and engaging life story, the quilts themselves are imbued with these owners lives as well, giving the works even more symbolic power and resonance.
The book itself not only tells the factual story of the journey of Powers quilts from maker to treasured museum piece, it also opens up the historical and cultural world of African America, from slavery itself, through to the complex and often difficult relationship with European America. The book made me aware that although African and European America is often seen, particularly by outsiders, as being of separate cultural traditions and with little interaction or familiarity, the opposite is often true. Hicks tells a different story, one of a much more intertwined and interdependent relationship, where although cultures might well have originated from different parts of the world, their interest, fascination and familiar identity with the symbolism and structure of Harriet Powers quilts is most definitely shared.
Kyra Hicks has left one more tantalising fact in her book, Harriet Powers is known to have produced more than two quilts, the others may yet still exist.
Illustration: Harriet Powers, 1897.
Kyra Hicks has produced a number of books within the quilting genre, some of which are listed below. All are linked to Amazon.com. She also has a fascinating and comprehensive blog Black Threads which highlights the African American quilting world.
Further reading links:This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces
Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria
Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook
The Liberian Flag Story & Love of Liberty Quilt
Stitching Stars: The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers (African-American Artists and Artisans)
Harriet Powers's Bible Quilts (Rizzoli Art Series)
Signs and Symbols: African Images in African American Quilts (2nd Edition)
Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts
Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters
Stitched from the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Antebellum South
Stitching Memories: African-American Story Quilts
Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery: 8 Projects, 20 Blocks, First-Person Accounts
