Grenfell-Type Hooked Rug with Fisherman
1909-1919
Scroll
Grenfell-Type Hooked Rug with Fisherman
1909-1919
Physical Qualities
Jute ground; cotton, wool, and jute pile, 24 x 33 in. (61 x 83.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Worth B. Daniels, Jr., Baltimore, MD.
Object Number
2009.88
Small rectangular rug composed of burlap (jute) ground with hooked pile of cotton, wool, and jute.* The subject is figurative, consisting of a man dressed in a grey sweater (originally purple), grey trousers (originally purple), and grey hat and boots (originally purple), standing on a large black rock situated among brownish reeds. The man casts a line from a fishing pole into the water, where five large grey and blue fish swim. The background is primarily light brown on the surface, but the reverse shows a subtltle change in color from land to water. The scene is surrounded by a 2" wide olive green border.
*The fish, hat, boots, pipe and clothing are of wool pile. The landscape and water are cotton pile. The sun and face of the man are possibly jute pile. The border is most likely also of jute.
This rug appears similar to those made in the Grenfell craft school established by Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, in Newfoundland between 1900 and 1930. However, it is figurative (generally not endorsed by the Grenfell rug makers) and it bears no tag,
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2009; Jane and Worth B. Daniels, Jr., Baltimore, MD by descent; Josephine Poe January Daniels.
Jessie A. Turbayne, Hooked Rugs: History and the Continuing Tradition, West Chester, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing Co., 1991, pp. 106-127, especially....
Joel and Kate Kopp, American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot, New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 2nd ed., 1985, pp. 92-93, ......
Judith Reither Weissman and Wendy Lavitt, Labors of Love: America's Textiles and Needlework, 1650-1930, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987,.....
Robert Bishop, William Secord and Judith Reiter Weissman; Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs & Samplers, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982, cat. #273?.......
Rita Reif, 'The Doctor Who Gave Silk Stockings a Second Life,' New York Times, Sunday, March 6, 1994, Sec. H, p. 43.....
Paula Laverty, 'Save Your Old Stockings: The Hooked Mats of the Grenfell Mission, Folk Art: Magazine of the Museum of American Folk Art, (Winter 1993/94), pp. 52-59, especially illus. p. 55.....?.
Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, A Labrador Doctor, London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1948.
Joel and Kate Kopp, American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot, New York: E.P. Dutton, Inc., 2nd ed., 1985, pp. 92-93, ......
Judith Reither Weissman and Wendy Lavitt, Labors of Love: America's Textiles and Needlework, 1650-1930, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987,.....
Robert Bishop, William Secord and Judith Reiter Weissman; Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs & Samplers, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982, cat. #273?.......
Rita Reif, 'The Doctor Who Gave Silk Stockings a Second Life,' New York Times, Sunday, March 6, 1994, Sec. H, p. 43.....
Paula Laverty, 'Save Your Old Stockings: The Hooked Mats of the Grenfell Mission, Folk Art: Magazine of the Museum of American Folk Art, (Winter 1993/94), pp. 52-59, especially illus. p. 55.....?.
Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, A Labrador Doctor, London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1948.
Inscribed: Handwritten in black ink on reverse (legibility in question): "January" [maiden name of owner] or possibly "Daniels" [married name of owner].
