Name/Title
SunburstEntry/Object ID
2015.007.001Description
Hand pieced, hand quilted with white and red sashing. See Brackman #3480.Context
This quilt was made in Orange County. A note accompanied this quilt, stating "The quilt...was made by [the donor's] great, great, great grandmother Tucker. The back was made out of home grown cotton which was spun into cloth at home." The quilt has been passed through several generations of women of the Tucker line. It was made by Isabella Tatum in the early 1800s.Collection
Permanent CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2015.007Source or Donor
Leigh Ann Berrey ThomasAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Isabella TuckerRole
MakerDate made
circa 1830Place
* Untyped Place
Madison, VirginiaOther Names
Tucker Sunburst
Tatum Sunburst
Colors
Color
Off-White, Red, OrangeColor Notes
Period PrintsCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodProvenance
Notes
Donated in 2015 by Leigh Ann Thomas, a great great great granddaughter of the maker. Leigh Ann passed along family history that the quilt was made by Isabella Tatum Tucker (1810-1866) in Madison County circa 1830.
The Virginia Quilt Documentation project did not find many quilts from Madison County so this quilt is a valuable contribution to the Quilt Museum’s collection of Virginia-made quilts. Historically, Madison Co. was known for its weavers rather than quilt makers.
When Leigh Ann decided to donate the quilt to VQM it was because she felt the museum would be the best caretaker of her heirloom, and she wanted to keep the quilt in Virginia.
Quilt maker Isabella Tucker was a farm wife, who married John Robert Tucker in 1834. By 1852 they had 10 children, although it is unknown whether all lived to adulthood. According to Leigh Ann’s grandmother, the family believed the quilt is backed by “home grown cotton which was spun into cloth at home.” (Note: Very little cotton was grown in Madison County because the growing season was too short. However, there was a cotton thread manufactory in Stafford at the time the quilt was supposedly made.) The preferred market for Madison farmers was Fredericksburg where cloth and thread would have been readily available during the appropriate era.
The quilt was passed through family generations who had stayed in Madison County to farm. Third generation descendant Isabell Lohr (1904-1991) married into the Clore Furniture Company family. The Clore family has been making fine handcrafted furniture in Madison since 1830.
Leigh Ann’s grandmother Isabell Lohr Clore was a homemaker who loved quilts, although she didn’t make many. She gifted the family heirloom quilt to granddaughter Leigh Ann who is a quilter. Leigh Ann has submitted her own quilt to the museum for the upcoming Medallion exhibit.
