By Alabama Public Radio
Tuscaloosa AL – Two Atlanta art collecters accused of defrauding quilters in Gees Bend say one of the lawsuits is baseless and have returned the quilts in question.
William Arnett of Atlanta and his son, Matt Arnett helped make the Gee's Bend quilters famous. They have also been sued over issues related to the quilts and designs they took and marketed. The Arnett's attorneys say a lawsuit accusing the collectors of taking quilts more than 100 years old is baseless because the quilt fabric is half that age. They say experts who evaluated the two quilts in dispute said they were made in the 1950s and '60s. This particular suit was filed by Lucinda Pettway Franklin of Mobile. She says the Arnetts would not return two quilts she had loaned them that she says were more than 100 years old. Franklin says the quilts were made by her great-grandmother. The Arnetts' attorneys say that is not true because the great-grandmother died in 1943 and some of the fabric in the quilts isn't that old.
Franklin's attorney says the Arnetts didn't get written evaluations of the quilts until after his client was forced to sue for their return. Franklin's suit is one of three the Arnetts are currently faced over the Gee's Bend quilts.