Quilt, "Butterfly"
Dateca. 1935
Maker
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wheeless Shaifer
American, 1866 - 1953
Maker
Laura Percy "Dear Laura" Shaifer
American, 1892 - 1983
MediumCotton
Dimensions84 1/2 inches X 71 1/2 inches
Credit LineGift of The Children of Elizabeth Shaifer Hollingsworth - Allison Shaifer Hollingsworth Moxey, Ann Davidson Hollingsworth Weeden and Christopher Alton Hollingsworth, and The Children of Sanfrid Davidson Shaifer - Mary Laura Shaifer Bell, Jodie Stovall Shaifer Huddleston and Sanfrid Davidson Shaifer, Jr.
Object number2025.609.25
DescriptionRectangular quilt appliqued with thirty butterflies arranged on angles. The butterflies are made of multicolor printed cottons in small-scale florals, geometrics, and solid colors, appliqued with black blanket stitches around the wings and blind stitches on the bodies. Additional outline stitch embroidery creates antennas and some details on wings. The bed cover is quilted at 6 to 7 running stitches per inch in feathered circles with cross-hatched centers between each butterfly and cross-hatching on the wide borders of off-white cotton. Thick cotton batting. Cotton binding matching the quilt backing finishes the borders. Off-white cotton backing. Pencil lines for quilting are still visible. Some stains.Label TextThis quilt is part of a large donation of quilts by the Shaifer family of Claiborne County, MS. These 46 quilts were made by women from four successive generations of the family, dating from the mid-1800s to the 1980s.
This applique quilt may have been worked at the Shaifer family home on Church Street in Port Gibson, MS- built by Percy Leon Shaifer (1866-1952) and Elizabeth Wheeless Shaifer (1866-1953) in 1930. It was the joint work of Elizabeth and her daughter, Laura Percy Shaifer (1892-1983), known to the family as "Dear Laura". Elizabeth, called "Lizzie", was a prolific needleworker- she embroidered, crocheted, stitched household textiles, and quilted. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth "Libby" Shaifer (1933-2016), later recalled that her hands "were never still."Provenance1930s, Elizabeth Wheeless Shaifer [1866-1953] and Laura Percy Shaifer [1892-1983] (Claiborne County, MS); dates unknown, descended in family to Elizabeth Shaifer (Mrs. Al) Hollingsworth [1933-2016] and Al Hollingsworth (Claiborne County, MS); 2025, gift of Shaifer family via Mr. Al Hollingsworth to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamburg, VA)
ca. 1860
