Herbarium, Block #1 Dahlia Wreath by Becky Brown
Our 2023-2024 applique sampler is based on a group of eight mid-19th-century quilts with similar blocks. Twelve floral designs will recall a teacher or a botanist with reference to "Botanizing" and Herbariums and their importance in the science education of the mid-19th century American schoolgirl.
See the introduction to this Block of the Month at this post:
Litchfield, Connecticut
Our first remembers Sarah Pierce and her important Litchfield Female Academy.
Litchfield Historical Society
Sarah Pierce (1767-1852) by George Catlin
(Same George Catlin who went west.)
Dahlia Wreath by Becky Collis
Litchfield Historical Society
Sarah Pierce founded the school in 1792. It closed in 1833.
An Herbarium - or a Herbarium, depending upon whether
you pronounce that initial H ---or don't.
Ann Bard and John Pierce had six daughters. At least three were involved in
the Female Academy and we will find out more about the botanizing Pierces in
future posts.
Many women benefitted from a term or two or three with the
Pierces. Here is local student Harriet F. Beecher in 1824. Most were
Northerners but do note Sarah H. Huger from Charleston.
In 1896 Emily Noyes Vanderpoel published Chronicles of a Pioneer School
in which the Pierce sisters' enjoyment of botany was recalled.
A calache left over from the days when
hair was abundantly piled atop the head.
Letter from Asa Gray discussing the Pierces & Braces,
relatives of "J," Jane Loring, whom he would marry.
Dahlia Wreath by Denniele Bohannon
The Block
All eight quilts with similar blocks include this simple wreath.
The block with the name is in the Shelburne Museum's collection.
Eight quilts with similar blocks (some common, some unique.)
In these popular wreaths the flowers can be in the corners or on the north/south axis.
Conventional Rose Wreath from
Marie Webster's 1915 book
We might name it a Wreath of Roses or Rose Wreath but
the unknown maker of the Shelburne's quilt called it Dahlia Wreath.
Dahlia coccinea
Maryland, 184?
Print on an 8-1/2 x 11" sheet and note the inch square for scale.
This little bird pattern (3" x 5" or so) might come in handy
over the twelve blocks. For example:
Unknown source
Collection of the Shelburne Museum, 1840-1865
The quilt with the floral names embroidered in each block.
Embroidered Picture. Source?
Could the Litchfield Female Academy be connected to the 8 botanical samplers? Unlikely, as the school closed in 1833 before the era of these red and green applique designs. But...perhaps indirectly through a student who became a teacher of botany.
Litchfield Female Academy Collection
Mary Ann Bacon Whittlesby (1787-1869)
In 1802 student 15-year-old Mary Ann Bacon enjoyed a quilting party at the home of Elizabeth Welch and Reverend Judah Champion, a Congregationalist minister. Their daughters attended the Female Academy.
Litchfield Female Academy Collection
Parson Judah Champion (1751-1810)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1420573283/herbarium-12-applique-blocks-in-a-civil?
And do check in at our Facebook group HerbariumQuilt. It's public so you don't have to join. Post your pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1956642391352208
Further Reading
To Ornament Their Minds: Sarah Pierce's Litchfield Female Academy, 1792–1833 (Litchfield, CT: Litchfield Historical Society, 1993). Catalog of an exhibit.
Emily Noyes Vanderpoel, Chronicles of a Pioneer School: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chronicles_of_a_Pioneer_School_from_1792/0J4WAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Vanderpoel,+Chronicles+of+a+Pioneer+School&printsec=frontcover
The Litchfield Historical Society has a complex index to students and objects from the school: https://ledger.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/ledger/
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