Yarn-sewn Rug

Attributedattributed to Hannah Rosina Maynard Phillips (American, 1826 - 1848)

Additional Title(s)

Augustine W. Phillips Yarn-sewn Rug

Collections

Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1830

Mediumyarn-sewn, chenille-shirred wool on linen

Dimensions54 1/2 × 63 × 1 1/4 in. (138.4 × 160 × 3.2 cm.)

DescriptionYarn-sewn and chenille rug; central 12-pointed snowflake motif within a multi-floral wreath, “Augustine W. Phillips” stitched at bottom on dark ground, probably Maine.

Credit LineJonathan and Karin Fielding Collection

Label TextSewn rugs, such as the three extraordinary examples seen here, added vivid color and ornate decoration to a home’s interior. They covered hearths in the summer, decorated tabletops, and cushioned the floor next to beds. As with fancy needlework, girls could learn “rug work” at school. The immense sense of accomplishment a woman felt upon completing a lively design is suggested in the rug Augustine W. Phillips’s wife Hannah Rosina Maynard Phillips made around 1845, in which she stitched her husband’s name with great pride. The pictorial hearth rug shown here is among the earliest dated yarn-sewn rugs known today.

Status

On view

Object numberL2015.41.83