1894 Hawaiian Mission Quilt
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GUEST:
I inherited it. It was given to me by my mother, which came down from her mother, and so it was my great-grandmother's quilt.
APPRAISER:
Do you know how your great-grandmother acquired the quilt?
GUEST:
She and her husband were missionaries assigned to serve in Hawaii, and they had already served one mission, and then they came home to Salt Lake, and then they went back and served a second mission. And at the end of their second mission, the Hawaiian sisters so loved and appreciated Libbie, that they made this quilt and gave it to her as a token of their appreciation.
APPRAISER:
So what we see here is this would be your great-grandmother's name on the quilt.
GUEST:
Yes, yes.
APPRAISER:
And do you know the significance of any of the other things that we're seeing on the quilt?
GUEST:
There's some reference to Hawaiian royalty.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
With the crowns. And we see the flag of the United States and Hawaiian flag.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
So the coming together of those two cultures.
APPRAISER:
Right. And do you know what the initials mean on the bottom of the quilt?
GUEST:
Yes, M.H. stands for "Mission Hawaii."
APPRAISER:
And it's dated 1894.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
So that would have been the Church of the Latter-day Saints mission in Hawaii.
GUEST:
Yeah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
APPRAISER:
Correct. In Hawaii. It's very interesting that there's a tie-in here, because Hawaiian quilts, you don't think of going to Hawaii and sleeping under a quilt because it's so warm there. And the first New England missionaries, when they went to Hawaii, taught the women how to make quilts. And Hawaiian quilts have become exceedingly desirable in the quilt-collecting world, and in museums because there's not a lot of them, they're on a white background or a pastel background, but a bold graphic design. And I think with the eagle in the center of yours, we see that there's really amazing graphic design. It's got a lot of symbolism in the design of the quilt. It's a really, really lovely piece. And it's still in such good condition. You do have a little bit of darkening in a few areas here, and a little bit over here. But that's something that a professional quilt restorer could easily clean for you. But you would definitely want to have it done by a professional. The retail value on a quilt like this would be about between $9,000 and $10,000.
GUEST:
Goodness, that is amazing. And I had no idea.
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