Gee’s Bend Pettway Quilt Design Modal Silk Scarf from The Met Museum

The brilliant design on our scarf recreates Housetop and Bricklayer with Bars (ca. 1955), a pattern by Gee’s Bend quilter Lucy T. Pettway (American, 1921-2004). This exceptional textile is the only Gee’s Bend quilt in the Museum’s holdings that appears to be intentionally pictorial; Pettway realized an imaginary aerial view of the old Pettway plantation, formerly belonging to Joseph Gee. The extraordinary craftswomen of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, have nurtured the art of quilting since the 19th century. Women enslaved on the cotton plantation established by Gee in 1816 initiated the practice out of necessity for warmth, and it burgeoned into a tradition passed down through the generations. Astonishing in their originality, each abstract quilt interweaves history and narrative, resourcefulness and innovation. © 2021 Estate of Lucy T. Pettway / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York