Harriet Powers’ Pictorial Quilt

harrietPowers

Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Avenue of the Arts 465 Huntington, Ave., Boston, MA 02115

Harriet Powers, an African American woman who was born a slave in Georgia in 1837,.blended textile art techniques from the Fon of Dahomey and European quilting methods to create her unique quilts.

Resources

Kidd, Sue Monk. Invention of Wings. Viking, 2014.
Kidd’s novel about the abolitionist Grimke sisters includes discussions about Fon pictorial techniques.

Lyons, Mary. Stitching the Stars: The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers. Atheneum, 1993.
This children’s picture book highlights Powers’ Fon-inspired  story quilts.

Photo: Wikicommons