unusual applique design

applique quilt, cottons, unknown maker, California, c. 1950, 43 & 1/2" x 49"

Six years ago, Karen Alexander wrote a blog post about an unusual applique design she discovered in an auction. The design was a silhouette, representing a Native American chief wearing a feathered headdress while shooting an arrow. The motif appears elsewhere in decorative arts and folk art, such as sheet metal weathervanes, but is rarely seen in quilts.

Recently, I acquired one of these quilts. It came from an Etsy seller in Three Rivers, California. Other examples share design elements, such as the zigzag sashing, which leads me to believe it was a published pattern at one time. It is red, white and blue, hand appliqued and hand quilted, 43 & 1/2" x 49" and the binding is applied using a matching red fabric. Condition is fair with some fading, bleeding and staining.