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Housetop and Bricklayer with Bars quilt

ca. 1955
Not on view
Lucy T. Pettway was known to be a keen observer of the world around her. She carried paper and pencil as she walked to and from her work in the fields each day and jotted down things that caught her eye, later using them as inspiration for her quilt designs. This extraordinary work is the only Gee’s Bend quilt in the collection that seems to be intentionally pictorial. Using the favored Housetop and Bricklayer pattern blocks, Pettway created an imaginary aerial view of the old Pettway plantation, with the large owner’s house at the top and four slave cabins below. The small printed calicos to the left of the houses represent the fields, while on the right, the blue Alabama River flows between red banks.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Housetop and Bricklayer with Bars quilt
  • Artist: Lucy T. Pettway (American, Boykin, Alabama 1921–2004 Boykin, Alabama)
  • Date: ca. 1955
  • Medium: Top and back: cotton and acetate
  • Dimensions: 91 3/8 × 80 1/8 in. (232.1 × 203.5 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles
  • Credit Line: Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.548.52
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Lucy T. Pettway
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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