Rug pattern (Hooked rug pattern)

Description

This hooked rug pattern, titled “Lush,” was designed by prominent rug maker, teacher, and pattern designer Pearl McGown in the 1930s or 1940s. The pattern depicts a large floral arrangement inside of a decorative border. It is printed in dark blue ink on a piece of undyed, plain-woven burlap. Hooked rugs are created by pulling loops of yarn, often wool, through the weave of a backing cloth using a hooking tool. The loops are pulled taught on the back of the rug, and piled and then clipped on the front side to create a design. In the second half of the 19th century, companies like E. S. Frost & Co. began selling rug hooking patterns, which provided outlines of pre-made designs printed directly onto the backing cloth. This particular pattern has been partially started, with a few petals already hooked on over the outlines. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.