Home Sweet Home: The House in American Folk Art

by Deborah Harding, Laura Fisher

The "house" is one of American folk art's most popular and prominent motifs, and this beautiful, authoritative volume is the first of its kind to explore this symbol in all major folk art media. The book is also a record of America's lost architectural heritage-- many of the buildings featured are no longer standing.

Each chapter focuses on a specific folk art category and includes an in-depth, detailed introduction to the subject followed by a comprehensive gallery of images accompanied by extended captions that provide a symbolic, social, and economic context for each piece. Every folk art format is quilts, rugs, needlework, furnishings, paintings, and drawings, among others. The unique folk art objects presented are culled from dealers' wares, unpublished private and corporate collections, auction houses, and major folk art museums in the country.

With its wealth of photography and insightful text, and introduction by Gerard C. Wertkin, Director of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City, Home Sweet Home is an excellent resource for collectors, history and nostalgia buffs, and those interested in Americana.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2001

About the author

Deborah Harding, author of America's Glorious Quilts and former Crafts and Needlework editor at Family Circle, began her exploration of redwork as a means to satisfy her curiosity about a redwork quilt she purchased at a flea market. As she began to explore the quilt's origins, Deborah discovered nursery rhyme motifs of "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" and "Who Killed Cock Robin?" within the stitching, along with Beatrix Potter characters including Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, and Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail. She called the quilt "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" because of its imagery. Deborah's subsequent collection of textiles and research materials on redwork culminated in the publication of Red & White: American Redwork Quilts and Patterns