Emma Merkesell’s Large Hand Appliquéd Tulips Linen Quilt Square, Signed, 19th c. alaskan to making paper planes

to making paper planes

as found: 16 7/16" x 12 3/8"

In pencil on the back of is a notation of its location: 98 Hawthorne Avenue in Yorkers

8 1/4" x 4" x 5/8" as mounted to wood block via nice bit fat nails

Found in Pennsylvania and with some age to it for sure

Emma Merkesell’s Large Hand Appliquéd Tulips Linen Quilt Square, Signed, 19th c. alaskan to making paper planesI find this an exceptionally beautiful thing, wonderfully bold and at the same time every bit as tender and expressive as the 19th c school girl drawings I love so much. Sewn onto the linen at lower left is a piece of ruled paper signed by an Emma Merkesell; I have done some searching and the only Merkesell I have found is an Emily Merkesell of Cass; County, Iowa, who married in 1877 it seems possible to me that that Emily could be our Emma, though I