c. 1850

Quilt

Given drawing lessons at an early age by her father, Charles Willson Peale, Sophonisba painted now unlocated still lifes and printed "in a neat hand" labels for the Peale museum in Philadelphia. Confined to the domestic scene as were most women of her class and time, she never developed her artistry professionally, but her sophisticated sense of design is apparent in this quilt—an appropriate activity for women of her Victorian generation. At the time this quilt was sewn, Sophonisba was suffering from cataracts in one eye, but she continued to sew, finding it "a blessing . . . that she was still so well able to use her needle for the benefit of others." Sophonisba's design is a variation of the "Star of Bethlehem" pattern.