Inspired by the message in her rare vintage Hutchinson motto hooked rug – AH ME, TIS SPRING! THE FLOWERS BLOOM, THE BIRDS DO SING..... as this season begins NYC Americana dealer Laura Fisher is showcasing lush exuberant floral hooked rugs from two centuries past in her gallery FISHER HERITAGE at 305 East 61st Street. As winter becomes a memory, Fisher sees clients adding antique floral rugs to eclectic interiors to capture a bit of the emotional uplift invoked by the sight of flowers starting to bloom outdoors.

Florals have been a consistent motif in hooked rugs since the form began in the mid 19th century. The colors and shapes of blooms were depicted either as a single floral type or as random sprays with floral variety, each an anonymous homemaker’s attempt to brighten an interior and express her creativity. Some early Waldeboro, Maine and Canadian rugs literally stand out thanks to how their hooked loops were clipped and sheared into lifelike three-dimensional blooms. By the era of the colonial revival design movement of the 20th century, professional rug designers like Pearl McGown recognized the allure of natural forms and taught hookers how to artfully shade realistic flowers and to hook finer gauge floral rugs with either a central oval floral spray or with repeat blocks of a single bloom or squares presenting an album of flowers.

Found in sizes from small mats to impressive room size, floral hooked rugs vary in appearance from one century to the next. In the 19th century floral rugs were usually heftier, thicker, sometimes clipped and textured from the use of narrow cut rag strips as the hooking material. By the mid 20th century wool yarns and ever-narrower strips to hook with became favored materials. These aspects are clues to help determine a hooked rug’s age, as can be the rug’s design format.

Fisher’s selection includes rugs with every floral iteration, in sizes from 2’ x 4’ up through room size examples measuring 8’ x 10’ and 9’ x 12’. See many on www.laurafisherquilts.com; photos of others are available upon request.

Contact: Fisher at the shop 212.838-2596; cell 917.797-1260