Baltimore Belles & Rebels: #10
Cornucopia for Elizabeth McKenney Sliver
By Becky Collis
Baltimore Museum of Art
Elizabeth McKenney Sliver (1799-1888), born in
Baltimore in 1799, is credited as one of the foremost designers during the Baltimore sampler/album heyday. Several surviving albums
are credited to her including this beauty in the Baltimore Museum of Art, donated
with the attribution that Elizabeth Sliver had finished it
in 1849 for the marriage of her stepdaughter Sarah A. E. Sliver to Eugene Devline in August
that year.
The 1850 census recorded Elizabeth, husband Abraham Sliver (rhymes with river) and son William Abraham Sliver living on Constitution Street with four young single women, perhaps seamstresses in her needlework business. Abraham was more than 25 years older than Elizabeth. Their marriage was the second for both. Abraham Sliver was listed as a “chandler,” a candlemaker, and he prospered as co-owner of a store selling candles and soap.
Denniele Bohannon's is ready for the stitching.
The Block
Ronda McAllen and Debby Cooney, experts on Baltimore Album quilts, have identified Elizabeth Sliver and her "Sliver Formula" as "Designer #1" who Jennifer Goldsborough noted several years ago for a group of quilts with a recognizable format for blocks and set. Note the consistent use of cornucopia blocks in the corners.
BMA's quilt
Simpler images by other designers
Cathy Erickson owns the quilt on the right.
AND I remembered to include the actual pattern!
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