Did the original makers of penny
rugs collect wool from friends,
cast offs of family clothing, perhaps from mail
order samples from woolen mills or maybe scraps from seamstresses? Collecting until they had enough to create a
planned rug, or worked the pieces like a quilt until it was large enough to
assemble?
What are critics, collectors, and
makers saying?
A penny rug is a compilation of
scraps of the household
and imagination of the creator,
designed from what was provided or collected.
One’s desire to make something from collected
pieces.
Not unlike a quilt, a penny rug
is a story of the day.
Handcrafted
"ruggs" were used to cover beds for warmth, cover table tops
or hearths, for decoration and purpose. They can be found in very large sizes
showing wear.
Is that an
indication that they were walked upon or just well used on beds, tables,
chests, and hearths?
Earlier
pieces done on burlap are difficult to find in good condition, as burlap can
break down over many years of storage. A large piece of wool was seldom used
as a backing because it was too precious. Not all penny rugs were made up of
circles. An appliquéd pattern depicting things like animals,
people, primitive shapes, flowers, homes, and festive scenes, have come
to be known as penny rugs.
Where did handcrafted
penny rugs originate? Settlers may have brought rugs and techniques with them
from their European homelands.
Excellent
examples of antique penny rugs can be found in the following publications
and
articles.
American Hooked and Sewn Rugs, by Joel and Kate Kopp, the sewn rugs found on page 123 through 130 are wool stitched on wool,
cotton, or linen.
They date
from 1835 to early 1900.
Quilts, Coverlets, Rugs & Samplers by Robert Bishop. The two appliquéd rugs in this book are on pages 296 and 297. Both
are described as wool on wool.
A quote
from the Bishop book; “Hints for Collectors. This unusual rug is in good
condition and would make a fine addition to any collection. Rugs made before
1850 are fairly rare, since many homes had no textile floor coverings well
into the 19th century. Made for tabletop or chest, rugs like this
were never walked on. Therefore, they are usually in good condition.” Then,
referring to the second featured rug, Bishop goes on to say “Few such
elaborate early 19th century rugs were made, and of those, even
fewer exist today. Not within the means of most collectors, a piece like this
is very expensive.”
Quoting
from Ami Mali Hicks, her book The Craft of Hand Made Rugs, published
in 1914. Page 53 The Scalloped Doormat or Tongue Rug… “It’s tongue-shaped
unit or scallop is cut out of odds and ends of woolen cloth, and sewed on a
burlap foundation. These scallops should never be made of cotton as cotton
does not wear well with this treatment. The more closely woven the fabric of
which the scalloped doormat is made, the more serviceable it is. Loosely
woven cloth is apt to fray. Old bits of broadcloth are a satisfactory
material to use.” Does Ami refer to woolen broadcloth in her day as what we
have come to know as cotton broadcloth?
In October
1952 for a Popular Science and Mechanics magazine,
Eleanore Engels
writes
about using old hats.
In this article Eleanore describes making
rugs that would be used for floor covers.
“For these rugs, use either felt or
extra-heavy woolen fabrics
(broadcloth or flannel) which don’t tend
to ravel, or a combination
of felt and fabric. You can use lighter
weights if you sandwich 2
or 3 layers of cloth together to give
proper thickness. You can use
all new felt, obtainable by the yard in
72 in. widths, from
department stores or mail-order houses;
combine it with salvaged
materials, such as old hats, discarded
billiard and pool table
coverings, old college pennants and
blankets, industrial felts (from
paper mills), and scraps left from the
manufacture of athletic goods
such as jackets and bowling shirts. (Try
Salvation Army store,
Goodwill Industries and rummage sales for
old hats.) Don’t use fur
felts or tissue felts—they are too soft
to be durable under foot.”
***
When
researching you will find that some rugs have decorative edging, done with
elongated pieces resembling the shapes of teardrops and tongues. Tongues may
also be known as lamb's ears, scallops, shoe heels, clam shells or pen
wipers. There is much history about these truly homemade
cottage craft rugs.
These photos are examples
of rugs done
in the tongue and penny styles.
They appear
well worn.
Were they
used in light traffic areas such as bedrooms and baths?
Further
references can be found in
Time Life
Books
American
Country; The Needle Arts
Page 93 begins
the chapter “For the Table” with penny rugs
and appliquéd rugs shown on pages 96 through
101
“reaching
their peak in of popularity around the 1870s, appliquéd table rugs were part
of a Victorian fashion for making highly decorative, but largely useless,
handicrafts to fill every corner of the home” …”they were purely ornamental,
and might be placed on a parlor table .... “to create an “artistic”
vignette.”
The
chapter goes on to feature illustrations and varying compositions including
the penny or “button” rug. The book has a wonderful collection of American
needlework including samplers, bed covers, as well as hooked and braided
rugs.
Don’t just
settle on that issue; look further in the Folk Arts edition (on page 142) to
find more appliqué rug references. Here again it is mentioned that the rugs
were used as coverings for tables and chests instead of being placed on the
floor.
***
Penny rugs
are great fun to research, follow and create.
There are many
craft magazines and more recent publications that reference them. Take a look
back through your own collections.
Perhaps
you have issues that were kept from earlier generations.
Search
thrift stores and book sites to find
colonial, country,
Victorian, folk art, craft or décor books.
 |
Following is an excerpt from The American
Folk Art Museum article
APPLIQUÉD RUGS
“Appliqué is a nineteenth-century
term for an earlier needlework technique known as applied-work. Historically,
appliqué has had many uses in clothing, upholstery, bed furnishings, and
quilts. By the first quarter of the nineteenth century, it had become a popular
technique used to make table, hearth, and floor rugs.
Appliqué involves cutting
elements from one fabric and sewing them onto another, larger foundation
fabric. The technique lends itself to original geometric or pictorial
compositions created through the use of single-layer or multilayered applied
elements. Most appliquéd rugs are made primarily from wool, often in dark,
saturated colors. Finer details may be added through embroidery and appliqués
cut from lighter-weight fabrics. The room-size Appliquéd Carpet in this exhibition is a highly unusual example of this technique because of its
monumental scale and dazzling imagery.
By the mid-nineteenth century,
appliqué became the basis for a type of table rug known variously as a penny,
button, coin, or money rug, whose primary design motif is a circle. The rug
could be composed of same-size circles that were cut using a template and
repeated across the surface, or of multiple circles cut in graduated sizes. The
latter were stacked in decreasing size order, with the smallest on the top, and
then sewn onto the foundation. Embroidery, often buttonhole stitching, was
usually added around the circumference of each circle. Penny rugs were finished
into geometric shapes-square, rectangular, oval, or hexagonal-and remained
popular into the twentieth century.”
***
Interesting and your examples are BEAUTIFUL!
ReplyDeleteFascinates me how these things are so much about social history and perhaps a desire to have something practical but also attractive in lives.
ReplyDeleteExactly! And then folks wanted "store bought". Handmade is far superior.
DeleteThank you Maureen, both rugs are handmade by me.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work Colleen. Just came across this article and was so happy to see your name pop up in the comments. Nice article on the history of Penny rugs!
ReplyDelete