Piecing Together the Past: The Quilts of Florence PetoMay 17 – October 25, 2009 “Florence Peto (1881-1970) was an influential collector and quiltmaker who worked tirelessly to bring attention to quilts as an important and integral part of our heritage,” said Curator Jean Burks, who is organizing Piecing Together the Past. “Her goal was to show that this true form of folk art was as historically meaningful as the written word.” Peto’s influence extended to Shelburne Museum, when in the 1950’s, she actively encouraged Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb to include quilts as an essential part of the Museum’s collection. Piecing Together the Past brings together ten Peto quilts on loan from a direct descendant, exhibiting them as a group for the first time. The exhibit also includes a selection of eight historic examples Peto collected that were acquired specifically for Shelburne Museum. During the 1940s and ‘50s Peto designed and created an amazing body of quilt work using her extensive collection of Centennial and traditional fabrics. She developed a distinctive style using antique copperplate and roller-printed calicoes, chintzes and toiles over a homespun background. Her artistic technique is distinguished by signature floral vine appliqué borders, elaborate broderie perse work and fussy cut flowers. In 1980, Peto was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame, in Marion Indiana. |
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