Expertly curated American antique quilts star in Jasper52 auction, Jan. 9

Jasper52 invites bidders to follow a thread back in time with a January 9 online auction of beautiful handmade quilts and textiles. The 111-lot sale features both traditional and intricately patterned examples.

As American as apple pie, quilts have added color and whimsy to bedrooms since colonial times, when imported materials were very expensive and families had to use every scrap of cloth economically. Saving or salvaging small scraps of fabric was a routine part of life for all early American households. Small pieces of fabric that had been set aside would be joined together to make larger units called “blocks.” Sometimes the blocks were joined together very simply to create utilitarian bedding for much-needed warmth on cold winter nights. But once communal quilting bees became popular with women (and sometimes men) as an efficient way to construct a finished textile product, quilting rose to the level of an art form.

1860s Whig Rose applique quilt with leafy vine border. Estimate $3,500-$4,000

View the auction here.

Learn more about the auction on Auction Central News.