Quilt

Date1853

OriginAmerica, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Portage Township

MediumCottons

Dimensions63 inches H X 85 inches W

Credit LineGift of Bryan R. Downey, great-great grandson of the maker

Object number2025.609.47

DescriptionRectangular quilt, wider than tall, appliqued with solid red, green, blue, and yellow-orange cottons on off-white ground. The center panel features six large lyres, each with a spread eagle above. Each eagle clutches four arrows, a shield, and a flag with two yellow four-pointed stars on a blue ground and seven red and white stripes. The eagle clutches a blue banner in his beak. Four full and four half pineapples are quilted in stuffed work, positioned between and outside the lyre motifs. Stitched to all four sides are nine-inch-wide borders featuring double leaves, each with a large acorn between. The quilt is stitched with 9 to 11 running stitches per inch through thin batting and white cotton backing. In addition to the stuffed-work pineapples, background quilting emphasizes and follows the appliqued motifs and also forms a small, quarter-inch grid in the white background areas, giving a puckered effect. Narrow green cotton binding finishes all four sides.Label TextThis striking quilt, featuring patriotic motifs and stuffed work, was made by Mary Jane Stull (1836-1921) in 1853. Stull was living in Portage Township in St. Joseph County, IN at the time of making. In 1860, Stull married John Mohler Studebaker (1833-1917), one of the founders of the Studebaker Manufacturing Company. The couple moved to South Bend, IN, where they lived until their deaths. Stull was active in local society, contributing to religious and benevolent fundraisers and attending local events.

In a privately published book on her family, Stull wrote specifically about quilting, noting, "I also had two big feather beds and four big feather pillows and twelve patchwork quilts, which were the pride of my young days as I did all the patching and quilting myself, and I hemmed my linen by hand."Provenance1853, made by Mary Jane Stull [1836-1921] (Portage Township, IN); 1921, passed by descent to Grace Anna Studebaker [1862-1946] (South Bend, IN); 1946, passed by descent to Frederick Studebaker Fish [1889-1980] (Fremont, Wyoming); 1980, passed by descent to Geraldine Osborne Fish [1926-2023] (Vero Beach, FL); prior to 2023, given to Bryan Downey (Charlotte, NC); 2025-present, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)