Rug (Hooked rug)

Description

James L. and Mercedes Hutchinson or Brooklyn, New York designed this his pictorial hooked rug sometime between 1925 and 1945. It was likely made by a costal villager along the New England or Canadian Maritimes coasts. The maker took regular widths of a variety of cotton and wool textiles, likely scraps or old clothes, of both plain and twill weave and used a hook to loop the strips of cloth between the threads of a burlap ground cloth. The overall design shows a marriage proposal in a mid-Victorian parlor interior. There is a framed portrait on the wall behind the man, and a large red portiere can be seen behind the woman. The woman holds a red rose in her left hand and extends her right to accept the gold ring being presented by her new fiancé. A white banner at the bottom reads black lettering, “May Good Luck Attend You.” James Hutchinson was an heir to the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He used his wealth to become an avid sailor and hooked rug collector, dealer, and later with his second wife, Mercedes, designers and sponsors of a successful hooked rug business. Hutchinson hooked rugs are often pictorial, whimsical, and feature inscriptions written by James, but designs rendered by Mercedes and hooked by unnamed craftspeople along the Northern Atlantic coastline.