Quilt

The well-equipped Victorian parlor would have held a series of optical amusements: kaleidoscope and zoetrope, stereopticon and magic lantern. The quiltmaker found she could also simulate movement and dimension from the flat dimensional objects that were the pieces for her quilt blocks. This New York quilt is a luminous example of the illusionary qualities occasionally achieved, by accident or by intent, through the quiltmaker's use of color and composition. It was primarily the mid-nineteenth century's increasing preference for the block style of construction that presented these optical opportunities. Here the basic unit of construction is a simple Fan block, four of which were used in the visual realization of each of sixteen large circular units.