Quilt. Cotton, white with pink basket motif on front, all white reverse. Pink border around three sides, one end with folded inward seem, no pink border. Sculpted in broad T shape on one end. Note from donor, Susan Bunker, reads: "This quilt was made by my father's, Raymond Bunker who was born in 1906, grandmother. She could have been a Bunker or a Spurling."
Description: Quilt. Cotton, white with pink basket motif on front, all white reverse. Pink border around three sides, one end with folded inward seem, no pink border. Sculpted in broad T shape on one end. Note from donor, Susan Bunker, reads: "This quilt was made by my father's, Raymond Bunker who was born in 1906, grandmother. She could have been a Bunker or a Spurling."
Quilt. Colorful wool, cotton, flannel, and jersey fabrics made of geometric and freeform shapes and patterns including plaids, tweeds, and solid colors. Reverse side is a solid rough beige cotton with pale blue stripes; there are decorative beige yarn ties along the blue stripes with a few pink yarn ties interspersed. Edges are folded in and machine (?) hemmed, there is no border. Possible ornate script initials - one of which is may be an "L". Some discoloration and stains. This quilt is one of two recovered from the Preble House. (See also quilt 1000.140.1138 from the same donor.) (Note: Lynne Birlem (donor 343) has a very similar framed crazy quilt at her home that is from her great grandmother Hamor's house on GCI.)
Description: Quilt. Colorful wool, cotton, flannel, and jersey fabrics made of geometric and freeform shapes and patterns including plaids, tweeds, and solid colors. Reverse side is a solid rough beige cotton with pale blue stripes; there are decorative beige yarn ties along the blue stripes with a few pink yarn ties interspersed. Edges are folded in and machine (?) hemmed, there is no border. Possible ornate script initials - one of which is may be an "L". Some discoloration and stains. This quilt is one of two recovered from the Preble House. (See also quilt 1000.140.1138 from the same donor.) (Note: Lynne Birlem (donor 343) has a very similar framed crazy quilt at her home that is from her great grandmother Hamor's house on GCI.) [show more]
Tool. Seven cast iron clamps used by Ladies Aid members when quilting. Each clamp has a three-lobed key head on a threaded rod with floating foot. Four larger clamps (5.5" L x 2.5" W x .5" H): No. 50, E.C. STEARNS & CO., SYRACUSE N.Y.. Three smaller black clamps (4.5" L x 2.25 W x .5" H): E.C. STEARNS & CO., SYRACUSE N.Y.
(5.5" L x 2.5" W x .5" H) and (4.5" L x 2.25 W x .5" H)
Description: Tool. Seven cast iron clamps used by Ladies Aid members when quilting. Each clamp has a three-lobed key head on a threaded rod with floating foot. Four larger clamps (5.5" L x 2.5" W x .5" H): No. 50, E.C. STEARNS & CO., SYRACUSE N.Y.. Three smaller black clamps (4.5" L x 2.25 W x .5" H): E.C. STEARNS & CO., SYRACUSE N.Y.
Magazine, "Ladies Home Journal," Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Issue of 15 May 1911, "The Girls Mid-May Number", with postal label addressed to Mrs Wm Bulger, Cranberry Isle, Maine.
Description: Magazine, "Ladies Home Journal," Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Issue of 15 May 1911, "The Girls Mid-May Number", with postal label addressed to Mrs Wm Bulger, Cranberry Isle, Maine.
Description: Magazine, "Ladies Home Journal," Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia. Issue of March 1908, "The Spring Fashion Number with 100 Fashion Pictures."
Magazine, "The Modern Priscilla, Home Needlework and Everyday Housekeeping," Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston. Issue of Apr 1918. Includes embroidery patterns and many wartime recipes.
Description: Magazine, "The Modern Priscilla, Home Needlework and Everyday Housekeeping," Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston. Issue of Apr 1918. Includes embroidery patterns and many wartime recipes.
Sewing tool. Antique rug needle or sewing punch tool, a.k.a stiletto sewing awl. Silver handle, steel shank with removable, sliding mechanism bearing patent info: PAT. 0 APR-6-09. Would have been used for a variety of endeavors like ripping seams, as a punch tool in rug making, creating eyelet holes in embroidery, and pricking patterns. Implement was recovered from Ruth "Robin" Freeman's barn across from the Preble House. Freeman is the donor's niece.
Description: Sewing tool. Antique rug needle or sewing punch tool, a.k.a stiletto sewing awl. Silver handle, steel shank with removable, sliding mechanism bearing patent info: PAT. 0 APR-6-09. Would have been used for a variety of endeavors like ripping seams, as a punch tool in rug making, creating eyelet holes in embroidery, and pricking patterns. Implement was recovered from Ruth "Robin" Freeman's barn across from the Preble House. Freeman is the donor's niece. [show more]
Quilt. Patchwork wool and polyester squares of black, grey, blue, and green one single white corduroy square. Squares are 6" x5" slightly irregular. Solid black satin with floral pattern back folded over on the parallel long edges to make a border. Machine stitching.
Description: Quilt. Patchwork wool and polyester squares of black, grey, blue, and green one single white corduroy square. Squares are 6" x5" slightly irregular. Solid black satin with floral pattern back folded over on the parallel long edges to make a border. Machine stitching.
Rug. Hooked, yarn and jersey material, with note "...made by Eliza Stanley." White waterbird with yellow bill wading with cattails, mountains, and butterfly in background; brown border. Faded, torn, worn, repaired at some earlier time. Eliza Stanley b. 1888 and d. 1967. (Donor bought Eliza and Pink Stanley's house 1970.)
Description: Rug. Hooked, yarn and jersey material, with note "...made by Eliza Stanley." White waterbird with yellow bill wading with cattails, mountains, and butterfly in background; brown border. Faded, torn, worn, repaired at some earlier time. Eliza Stanley b. 1888 and d. 1967. (Donor bought Eliza and Pink Stanley's house 1970.)
Flag, 48-Star U.S. flag. Ruth Westphal says, "Found in the home of Alice & Richard Stanley when we purchased it in July 1970. Home was built in 1910 by the Stanleys."
Description: Flag, 48-Star U.S. flag. Ruth Westphal says, "Found in the home of Alice & Richard Stanley when we purchased it in July 1970. Home was built in 1910 by the Stanleys."
Quilt. Known as a "crazy quilt", this quilt was recovered from the Preble house on GCI and is believed to be over 150 years old. Quilt is bordered in velvet with silk and other types of multi-colored, geometric and free-form fabric pieces and a wide variety of fancy stitching; reverse is green silk. The quilt has three sets of fancy-script initials in different areas interpreted as: "A" ; "J" or "T"; and "JSM". (See also quilt 2014.270.2007 from same location and donor.) (Note: Lynne Birlem (donor 343) has a very similar framed crazy quilt at her home that is from her great grandmother Hamor's house on GCI.)
Description: Quilt. Known as a "crazy quilt", this quilt was recovered from the Preble house on GCI and is believed to be over 150 years old. Quilt is bordered in velvet with silk and other types of multi-colored, geometric and free-form fabric pieces and a wide variety of fancy stitching; reverse is green silk. The quilt has three sets of fancy-script initials in different areas interpreted as: "A" ; "J" or "T"; and "JSM". (See also quilt 2014.270.2007 from same location and donor.) (Note: Lynne Birlem (donor 343) has a very similar framed crazy quilt at her home that is from her great grandmother Hamor's house on GCI.) [show more]
Newspaper clipping. From the Bangor Daily News dated Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Regional B5. Article is titled "Art Show, sale to aid island museum, cultural center" A portion of the text in the article reads " Organizers have high hopes for Thursday's one-day art exhibit and silent auction at the Neighborhook House in Northeast Harbor, which will feature artworks inspired by the island's rock-bound beauty." "I think it's going to be a real fun time for everyone," Wini Smart, artist and president of the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society, said last week.The article goes on to say, "some of the better-known expressionist artists whose work will be displayed include C. Scott White, William Kienbusch, Carl Nelson and Dorothy Eisner." "Two of Nelson's oil paintings will be auctioned off alongside works by present- day island artists Ashley Bryan, Smart, Gail Cleveland, Sue Hand and David Little, among others. Jewelry by island artists Lisa Hall and Sam Shaw will go on the block, too, and will be joined by handmade quilts, crafts and a plethora of gift certificates. If the fundraising for the $375,000 refurbishment of the historical society's Cranberry House is successful, the island will be even more lively. Plans are under way to turn the old wooden structure into a combination museum and a place for small theater, muscial events, art workshops and a cafe'. Last year, $139,000 was raised for the project. Smart said she hopes that the coming art auction will provide an additional $50,000." See picture of item #1595 for complete article.
Description: Newspaper clipping. From the Bangor Daily News dated Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Regional B5. Article is titled "Art Show, sale to aid island museum, cultural center" A portion of the text in the article reads " Organizers have high hopes for Thursday's one-day art exhibit and silent auction at the Neighborhook House in Northeast Harbor, which will feature artworks inspired by the island's rock-bound beauty." "I think it's going to be a real fun time for everyone," Wini Smart, artist and president of the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society, said last week.The article goes on to say, "some of the better-known expressionist artists whose work will be displayed include C. Scott White, William Kienbusch, Carl Nelson and Dorothy Eisner." "Two of Nelson's oil paintings will be auctioned off alongside works by present- day island artists Ashley Bryan, Smart, Gail Cleveland, Sue Hand and David Little, among others. Jewelry by island artists Lisa Hall and Sam Shaw will go on the block, too, and will be joined by handmade quilts, crafts and a plethora of gift certificates. If the fundraising for the $375,000 refurbishment of the historical society's Cranberry House is successful, the island will be even more lively. Plans are under way to turn the old wooden structure into a combination museum and a place for small theater, muscial events, art workshops and a cafe'. Last year, $139,000 was raised for the project. Smart said she hopes that the coming art auction will provide an additional $50,000." See picture of item #1595 for complete article. [show more]
Wooden rug making or weaving frame. With note to Bruce Komusin dated 30 March 2006. "This frame was given to Irene Bartlett by Louise Sorenson (Barbara Brooks' sister) 1960s or 70s (along with lots of wool) when she was clearing things out of the house. If you can use it at the new Historical Center and/or your craft demonstration/fundraiser I would love to donate it to the center. Frances [Bartlett]"
Description: Wooden rug making or weaving frame. With note to Bruce Komusin dated 30 March 2006. "This frame was given to Irene Bartlett by Louise Sorenson (Barbara Brooks' sister) 1960s or 70s (along with lots of wool) when she was clearing things out of the house. If you can use it at the new Historical Center and/or your craft demonstration/fundraiser I would love to donate it to the center. Frances [Bartlett]"
Rug, braided, oval; starting in the center, predominantly green, brown, and orange patterned loops grow larger, then the colors change to blue, pink, brown, and red, culminating in a black border; colors in each loop change even within the loop; the fourth and fifth loops from the outside have become disconnected, and several other loops are loose.
Description: Rug, braided, oval; starting in the center, predominantly green, brown, and orange patterned loops grow larger, then the colors change to blue, pink, brown, and red, culminating in a black border; colors in each loop change even within the loop; the fourth and fifth loops from the outside have become disconnected, and several other loops are loose.
Artwork. "The Quiltmaker" framed, oil on canvas by Wini Smart 2006. Islander Ruth Westphal sewing a colorful quilt in a windowed room with view of church suggested in one window. Painting donated by Friends of Cranberry House at the 2006 Exhibit and Benefit Auction held at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor, ME.
Description: Artwork. "The Quiltmaker" framed, oil on canvas by Wini Smart 2006. Islander Ruth Westphal sewing a colorful quilt in a windowed room with view of church suggested in one window. Painting donated by Friends of Cranberry House at the 2006 Exhibit and Benefit Auction held at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor, ME.
Wheel from a 'walking' a.k.a. 'great' spinning wheel. Smooth wooden wheel, 45" diameter with brass core in hub of wheel. Rusted nail heads visible where wood overlaps on exterior of wheel and also where several spokes meet the wheel. No other parts of this walking wheel have been located. (It may have come from the Liebow house originally.) This wheel was installed on a 2018 donation of a spinning wheel base from Islesford that fits perfectly.
Description: Wheel from a 'walking' a.k.a. 'great' spinning wheel. Smooth wooden wheel, 45" diameter with brass core in hub of wheel. Rusted nail heads visible where wood overlaps on exterior of wheel and also where several spokes meet the wheel. No other parts of this walking wheel have been located. (It may have come from the Liebow house originally.) This wheel was installed on a 2018 donation of a spinning wheel base from Islesford that fits perfectly. [show more]
Small, wooden, four-legged flax spinning wheel with flat table, grooved wheel. "FARNHAM Near Owego" impressed into base. This four-legged wheel is missing part(s). [Note: http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/198156.html says Joel Farnhan was a wheelwright and cabinet maker who moved from PA to Owego NY in 1794.By the 1820s he had a well-established milling and wheelwright business which passed on to his youngest son Frederick, who began producing his own wheels by the 1840s.]
Description: Small, wooden, four-legged flax spinning wheel with flat table, grooved wheel. "FARNHAM Near Owego" impressed into base. This four-legged wheel is missing part(s). [Note: http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/198156.html says Joel Farnhan was a wheelwright and cabinet maker who moved from PA to Owego NY in 1794.By the 1820s he had a well-established milling and wheelwright business which passed on to his youngest son Frederick, who began producing his own wheels by the 1840s.] [show more]
Rug. Green and beige crab motif. Hooked, wool, sheared on burlap, 29.5" x 64.5". Made on Cranberry Isles 1902-1905. One of two similar rugs from same donor. (See 2005.138.2026 dog-motif rug.) Donor states her sister recovered this rug from the storage shed at their parents' house in New Hampshire after reading the Bangor Daily News article about her earlier donation of the dog-motif rug; and that this rug was repaired in the same manner as that rug, but is in much better condition. This rug lacks the CR monogram that was usually worked into one corner or on the selvage at the back of rugs that were made specifically by the Cranberry Island Club rug makers at the turn of the century. But it likely shares the provenance of the dog-motif rug described by its donor and its connection to Miriam P. Reynolds of Northeast Harbor and her family's New Hampshire connection. From "Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor", #55 (Nov. 1904), pp 1573-1622, the article "The Revival of Handicrafts in America." by Max West, Ph. D. states: Cranberry Islanders ".... were already familiar with the process of hooking rugs; and they were fortunate in having the benefit of the initiative, moral support, and financial backing of Mrs. Seth Low, Miss Miriam P. Reynolds, and one or two other New York women whose summer homes are at Northeast Harbor, as well as in obtaining the aid of capable designers. The industry was started on a small scale in the autumn of 1901, under the supervision of Miss Amy Mali Hicks, a designer identified with the arts and crafts movement in New York City, who designed the patterns and gave instruction in dyeing, etc. ..." (See also "Three Centuries of Hooking, Mount Desert Island Historical Society, 2009, p. 20-21.)
Description: Rug. Green and beige crab motif. Hooked, wool, sheared on burlap, 29.5" x 64.5". Made on Cranberry Isles 1902-1905. One of two similar rugs from same donor. (See 2005.138.2026 dog-motif rug.) Donor states her sister recovered this rug from the storage shed at their parents' house in New Hampshire after reading the Bangor Daily News article about her earlier donation of the dog-motif rug; and that this rug was repaired in the same manner as that rug, but is in much better condition. This rug lacks the CR monogram that was usually worked into one corner or on the selvage at the back of rugs that were made specifically by the Cranberry Island Club rug makers at the turn of the century. But it likely shares the provenance of the dog-motif rug described by its donor and its connection to Miriam P. Reynolds of Northeast Harbor and her family's New Hampshire connection. From "Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor", #55 (Nov. 1904), pp 1573-1622, the article "The Revival of Handicrafts in America." by Max West, Ph. D. states: Cranberry Islanders ".... were already familiar with the process of hooking rugs; and they were fortunate in having the benefit of the initiative, moral support, and financial backing of Mrs. Seth Low, Miss Miriam P. Reynolds, and one or two other New York women whose summer homes are at Northeast Harbor, as well as in obtaining the aid of capable designers. The industry was started on a small scale in the autumn of 1901, under the supervision of Miss Amy Mali Hicks, a designer identified with the arts and crafts movement in New York City, who designed the patterns and gave instruction in dyeing, etc. ..." (See also "Three Centuries of Hooking, Mount Desert Island Historical Society, 2009, p. 20-21.) [show more]
Rug. Braided with hooked center element. Concentric rings of browns, blacks, and greens with pale blue, red, and maroon flowers in hooked center square. Reverse side of rug has patch of brown cotton fabric with coral and beige flower decoration 16.5 x 17" serving as backing for the hooked flowers. Edges badly worn. Hole by the maroon flower. Some separation between the concentric braided rings.
Description: Rug. Braided with hooked center element. Concentric rings of browns, blacks, and greens with pale blue, red, and maroon flowers in hooked center square. Reverse side of rug has patch of brown cotton fabric with coral and beige flower decoration 16.5 x 17" serving as backing for the hooked flowers. Edges badly worn. Hole by the maroon flower. Some separation between the concentric braided rings.
Rug, hooked, rectangular; brown border with schooner, lighthouse and rocks against partly cloudy sky and green sea. From the home of Hilda Adel Bulger Spurling (1902-1987) (the Keegan's house on Harding Pt. Road in modern times). Hilda served as Postmistress on weekends for her sister Marjorie Phippen.
Description: Rug, hooked, rectangular; brown border with schooner, lighthouse and rocks against partly cloudy sky and green sea. From the home of Hilda Adel Bulger Spurling (1902-1987) (the Keegan's house on Harding Pt. Road in modern times). Hilda served as Postmistress on weekends for her sister Marjorie Phippen.
Rugs. A collection of six small hooked rugs of various shapes, fabrics, sizes, and patterns - likely early 20th century and made locally. Donor's sister-in-law, Holly Hartley, a summer resident in the house on Preble Cove, GCI, that donor now owns and where the rugs were used recalls: "The two worn, rectangular rugs are very familiar to me. I'm certain that my grandmother collected them, as I am sure they were in the house from the time I first came to Cranberry in 1946 at 2-years-old. The other two are not familiar to me. They seem a different aesthetic entirely - multiple types of flowers, lots of different colors, the use of shading. I wonder whether or not my Mother or my sister Vicky collected them. I know my grandmother had braided rugs that were made by Margie Phippen and her sister Hilde Spurling and their mother, Pink Bulger. No 6 is very familiar to me and I also think no 5 was in the house for a long time. I am now asking myself their locations in the house. I know we walked on them and I think they were in hallways and bedrooms. I still don't know the artist but I think these two are among the older ones." See photographs of backs and fronts of each rug.
Description: Rugs. A collection of six small hooked rugs of various shapes, fabrics, sizes, and patterns - likely early 20th century and made locally. Donor's sister-in-law, Holly Hartley, a summer resident in the house on Preble Cove, GCI, that donor now owns and where the rugs were used recalls: "The two worn, rectangular rugs are very familiar to me. I'm certain that my grandmother collected them, as I am sure they were in the house from the time I first came to Cranberry in 1946 at 2-years-old. The other two are not familiar to me. They seem a different aesthetic entirely - multiple types of flowers, lots of different colors, the use of shading. I wonder whether or not my Mother or my sister Vicky collected them. I know my grandmother had braided rugs that were made by Margie Phippen and her sister Hilde Spurling and their mother, Pink Bulger. No 6 is very familiar to me and I also think no 5 was in the house for a long time. I am now asking myself their locations in the house. I know we walked on them and I think they were in hallways and bedrooms. I still don't know the artist but I think these two are among the older ones." See photographs of backs and fronts of each rug. [show more]
Rug. Hooked rug, with clamshell design. Description for clamshell from donor's 1987 appraisal at Thomaston Galleries: HOOKED RUG: woolens on burlap with 1/2”-wide braided border. Dark band enclosing tight rows of dark polychrome “Clam Shells”. Good overall condition. 20th c. American Dim: 28” x 47”. Donor doesn't know if it was made on GCI, but recalls it being in her mother's GCI home when she was a child.
Description: Rug. Hooked rug, with clamshell design. Description for clamshell from donor's 1987 appraisal at Thomaston Galleries: HOOKED RUG: woolens on burlap with 1/2”-wide braided border. Dark band enclosing tight rows of dark polychrome “Clam Shells”. Good overall condition. 20th c. American Dim: 28” x 47”. Donor doesn't know if it was made on GCI, but recalls it being in her mother's GCI home when she was a child.
Rug. Hooked rug, with floral design. Donor doesn't know if it was made on GCI, but recalls it being in her mother's GCI home when she was a child. Rug is hooked with stockings and fabric on burlap.
Description: Rug. Hooked rug, with floral design. Donor doesn't know if it was made on GCI, but recalls it being in her mother's GCI home when she was a child. Rug is hooked with stockings and fabric on burlap.