I'm not working on a plus one so no sidekick to show you an update on. But I know you do enjoy looking at the vintage rugs so lets get to it shall we?
Horses and Dogs was hooked early 20th century with dimensions of 34 x 38. Yeah, you have to stare for a few moments to capture the images.
This is a well worn rug of a landscape with a well water source. It is always the edge of the rug which gets beat up worse so make sure to have the edge of your foundation well protected both with pre-binding stitching but also a covered edge. As you can see that too can get badly worn so change locations so it isn't in the most used area of the home.
From the estate of Bob Foley and Nancy Sevatson is Flowers and Stars with hit and miss border. It measures 15 x 35 and said to be hooked 1900s. Nice and soft of the eyes.
A hooked Spotted Dog, 17 x 31 hooked in the 1900s. I find it interesting how the women made good use of available textiles to make it appealing to the eye and no formal artistic training on how the eye travels to pull the rug together. They did this on their own intrinsic nature. Have you ever been up close enough to a lion to see the color of its eyes? If so, bet it wasn't a Blue Eyed Lion. No date given but it measures 21 x38. A Brown Dog with primitive scrolls ~ it was hooked in the 19th century and measures 19.5 x 38.
Here is a view of the back and foundation used. Julia brought up a good question and one I didn't think of. She noticed the zig zag stitch on the edge of the burlap and wondered when that was invented. Helen Blanchard is said to have invented and patented the first zig zag stitch sewing machine in 1873. You can read more about it HERE. Found this rug which conjured up questions in my mind. Named Hard Times the rug was hooked July 1874. It has an hour glass and gamblers wheel, or so the auction house said. Guess that round part of the rug is a roulette wheel. You can see a few areas where the rug is down to burlap. The rug measures 37 x 72.
One of the questions in my mind was if the woman hooked this because her gambling husband was causing the hard times for the family? And wonder if those are Roman Numerals above the upside down 1874 date?
Gail commented that there was a severe financial crisis from 1873 to at least 1879. Thanks to another follower and contributor!
A very nice winter landscape (tho I'm not looking forward to winter) is the early 20th century hooked rug on burlap. According to the auction house there is a label on the back from Cooperative dArts Domestiques du Quebec; the rug measures 20 x 29.5.
Hope you enjoyed the show and maybe some of them gave you insight or maybe more questions on what inspired designs on rugs hooked in days gone by. I find myself wondering what the person was thinking when they hooked a certain rug, just as with the Hard Times rug.
I love it when people have questions or suggestions!!!!!! Keep them coming ~ thank you Julia and Gail for your input and making my blog more informative.
Happy hooking.
Saundra
