MILWAUKEE • A new exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum features one of the world's finest collections of early American quilts.

Rare textiles of the late 1700s and early 1800s are on display in "American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection," which is open through Sept. 6.

The quilts make political statements, celebrate marriages, and document the textile trade.

Many of the 40 quilts were collected by Henry Francis du Pont, one of the 20th century's most avid antique collectors and horticulturists. They were featured in the Winterthur Museum & Country Estate in Delaware.