Two Visions of Spirituality

Elijah Pierce’s Woodcarvings and Historic Amish Quilts

By Timothy Keny

Throughout his life, Elijah Pierce was active in his community as a Baptist church member, preacher, barber, storyteller, Freemason and mentor.

In the 1960s, he regularly carved religious bas-relief woodcarvings for friends and members of his church whose deeds he admired, which he often awarded to them at church. The recipients of these gifts treasured them as symbols of a life well-lived.

Aesthetically, Pierce’s early carvings from the 1920s through the 1940s were spare, concise, relatively flat and often mellow in coloration. The carvings he created later, in the 1950s through early 1970s, were usually more richly colored, complexly patterned and overtly narrative.

The artist’s uncanny ability to convey stories and beliefs in a clear, visually and spiritually compelling manner is extraordinary. Elijah could distill his visual message into a resonant, yet direct, statement. The clarity and animation of his forms amplify the authority of his spiritual teachings, which were his priority.

The visual transcendence that I experience when viewing the artist’s finest carvings is akin to the aesthetic and spiritual aura that I feel when viewing finely and creatively sewn, pieced and designed historic Amish quilts. Often these quilts were made as special gifts and intended as heirlooms for family members.

Many of the quilted motifs in historic

Amish quilts originate perhaps from the decoration of early Amish and Mennonite Ausbunds or special hymnals with such forms as diamonds and corner squares, which appear regularly in Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) Amish quilts and, sporadically, in Ohio and other Midwestern Amish quilts (usually in smaller pieced and quilted diamonds). Some of the scroll designs from these hymnals are similar to princess feather and wreath stitching motifs in Amish quilts. Such stitched images as the star, heart, rose, tulip and diamond are symbolic of Christ’s presence and regeneration.

I believe that some of the most powerful and unique elements in historic Amish quilts are the wide borders and black backgrounds (often in Ohio quilts) juxtaposed to the pieced areas and the borders. Many times, contemplative colors such as olive, rust, brown, black, mulberry and indigo are set against vibrant colors such as lavender, magenta, red, peach and lighter blues in Amish quilts, particularly in the 20th century.

Great African-American folk art, like Elijah Pierce’s carvings, is often linked to diverse African spiritual beliefs and/or Christianity. It is informed with a visual power as a function of simplified forms, rich patterns occasionally punctuated by asymmetrical quirks and the poetry of creative color and tactile texture. Many of these characteristics are just as evident in the devoutly Christian aesthetic creations of Amish quilt makers with Swiss and Germanic roots. cs