Looking for Aunt Martha's Quilt
In 1892, Liberian farmer Martha Ann Erskine Ricks took a gift of a quilt to Queen Victoria, a quilt she had spent 25 years making, which is now missing.
Beryl Dennis goes in search of a long-lost quilt her relative Martha Ann Erskine Ricks made for the British Queen Victoria. How did a former slave come to meet the most powerful woman in the world 125 years ago?
We also explore Martha鈥檚 life in Liberia, west Africa, where she made her home after moving from the US.
Newspapers of the time followed in great detail the story of the 'queen and the negress' and her hand-stitched quilt in the design of a coffee tree. And Aunt Martha 鈥� as she is respectfully known - made such an impression on Queen Victoria that she noted in her diary of 16 July 1892 that she had a 'kind face'.
But where is the Coffee Tree quilt today?
Producer: Penny Dale
(Photo: A recreation of Martha Ricks鈥檚 coffee tree quilt made by the Quageh quilting group in Caldwell, Liberia. Credit: Penny Dale)
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Clip
-
![]()
A former slave's gift for Queen Victoria
Duration: 02:02
Broadcasts
- Sun 9 Jul 2017 03:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet
- Sun 9 Jul 2017 13:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet
- Wed 12 Jul 2017 08:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet
- Wed 12 Jul 2017 17:06GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
- Wed 12 Jul 2017 23:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet