This is one of a series of three quilts made by Loretta Pettway in the early 1960s, all of the same gray, blue, and olive recycled clothing fabrics. It illustrates the Housetop pattern in its purest form—a single central square with strips in alternating colors built around it until the quilt grew big enough to cover a bed. Housetop designs like this one are uncommon outside the Gee’s Bend community, but they may have been originally inspired by central medallion quilts of the early nineteenth century. The earlier examples, which were particularly popular in the southeastern United States, consist of a central square or rectangle—most often appliquéd with colorful chintz—framed by concentric bands of decorative printed fabric.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
the artist, Gee's Bend, Ala. (1963–99: in 1999 to Arnett); William S. Arnett, Atlanta (1999–2002; his gift in 2002 to Tinwood Alliance); Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta (2002–10; transfer in 2010 to Souls Grown Deep); Souls Grown Deep Foundation, Atlanta (2010–14; their gift to MMA)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 8–November 10, 2002, unnumbered cat. (p. 73; lent by the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta).
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," November 21, 2002–March 9, 2003, unnumbered cat.
Mobile, Ala. Mobile Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 14–August 31, 2003, unnumbered cat.
Milwaukee Art Museum. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 27, 2003–January 4, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," February 14–May 17, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 27–September 12, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Norfolk, Va. Chrysler Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," October 15, 2004–January 2, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," February 13–May 8, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," June 1–August 21, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Auburn, Ala. The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 11–December 4, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," March 25–June 18, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," July 15–November 12, 2006, unnumbered cat.
Orlando Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," January 28–April 22, 2007, unnumbered cat. (p. 71; lent by the Tinwood Alliance, Atlanta).
Baltimore. Walters Art Museum. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," June 17–August 26, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. "The Quilts of Gee's Bend," September 6, 2007–January 7, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Denver Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," April 13–July 6, 2008, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," August 2–October 2, 2008, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift," May 22–September 23, 2018, unnumbered cat. (pl. 38).
Joanne Cubbs inGee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt. Ed. Paul Arnett, Joanne Cubbs, and Eugene W. Metcalf Jr. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Atlanta, 2006, p. 68, ill. p 71 (color).
Amelia Peck inMy Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 79, 108, colorpl. 38.
Mario Naves. "History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation Gift." New Criterion 37 (September 2018), p. 38.
Karen Wilkin. "A Visual Equivalent of Jazz." Wall Street Journal (May 31, 2018), p. A13.
Ed Clark (American, New Orleans, Louisiana 1926–2019 Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan)
1966
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
