Friday, December 10, 2010

Scherenschnitte?


The word scherenschnitte means "scissor cut" in German, and is also a term used to describe paper cutting design. Scherenschnitte art work often has symmetry within the design, and common forms include silhouettes, valentines, love letters, and applique quilt designs. The art tradition was founded in Switzerland and Germany in the 16th century, and was brought to colonial America in the 18th century by immigrants who settled primarily in Pennsylvania. 


The two blocks in this blog could be called scherenschnitte. Both designs include elegant, symmetrical shapes that resemble paper cut snowflakes, but these designs may seem like something other than pure scherenschnitte because they include more than one piece of fabric. Some of the most distinctive examples are seen in quilts from Pennsylvania, but also in Hawaiian quilts. 

The first block (pictured, top) is from the second row, second block from the left. The center part of the block is a squared paper cut design made of oxblood/maroon/burgundy fabric. Leaves sprout from the corners, and budding flowers from top, bottom, and both sides. The second block is a unique design, but the central part of the design is actually made from five pieces of matching oxblood/maroon/burgundy fabric. In that regard, it is a fabricated scherenschnitte with seams visible only on close examination. This design has matching, unique green shapes in each of the four corners.

Even though scherenschnitte was prevalent in Pennsylvania quilts of the middle to late 19th century, the influence made its way into other types of quilts, including this album from West Virginia. These two scherenschnitte blocks are also among the most original and unusual designs in the quilt.

3 comments:

  1. Hello...I am working on a quilt appraiser for a client and believe the pattern is a Scherenschnitte motif, but would like someone who is familiar with Scherenschnitte to confirm or not. Is this a Scherenschnitte pattern? If so does it have a specific name?

    Ther are are two quilt in the same pattern, but mirror images of each other, where it is orange in one quilt, it is white in the other. I have spent a lot of time searching and have not found any comparable quilts that have sold or that are for sale. Can you point me in a direction...any specific web sites I should research that I may have missed? I am not having any luck finding comparables to date.

    I am an AQS certified quilt appraisal, but I live in the state of Washington, and am not very familiar with Amish quilts. In 30 years I have seen one other Amish quilt. Any thoughts, opinions and direction would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello...I am working on a quilt a quilt appraisal for a client and believe the pattern is a Scherenschnitte motif, but would like someone who is familiar with Scherenschnitte to confirm or not. Is this a Scherenschnitte pattern? If so does it have a specific name?

    There are two quilt in the same patter, but mirror images of each other, where it is orange in one quilt it is white in the other. I have spent a lot of time searching and have not found any comparable quilts that have sold or that are for sale. Can you point me in a direction...any specific web sites I should research that I may have missed? I am not having any luck finding comparables to date. I am an AQS certified quilt appraisal, but I live in the state of Washington, and am not very familiar with Amish quilts. In 30 years I have seen one other Amish quilt. Your thoughts, opinions and direction will be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good question! I do not know if the Scherenschnitte in this blog post has a specific name. I kind of imagine these designs were made up in an improvisational manner, but I could be wrong about that. If you are looking for comparables, I would think the best bet would be the dealers in Pennsylvania, such as the Kovals and the Herrs. Sometimes these quilts would be found under "applique" rather than "Scherenschnitte"

    ReplyDelete