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Lot Essay
The Grenfell rug manufactory is named for its founder, Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, who arrived in Labrador from a British Hospital ship in 1892. With the community essentially land-locked for the majority of the year, Grenfell decided to live there as a missionary. He established his manufactory as a means of providing activity and employment for local residents. He established hospitals and capitalized on the already existent indigenous hooked rug making of the area.
Grenfell rugs are distinct not just for their variety of recycled fabrics, including wool, cotton knit, nylon and burlap blends, but the manner in which they are tightly hooked through the burlap foundation to make the finished product appear more like needlepoint. While Grenfell did not invent or teach this technique of rug hooking, it is nonetheless common to and associated with his missionary's products. The scenes depicted reflect life in the Labrador, showing polar bears, puffin, icebergs, or in the example illustrated here, a dog team sled and driver. For further information, see Kopp and Kopp, American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot (New York: 1985), p. 93.
Grenfell rugs are distinct not just for their variety of recycled fabrics, including wool, cotton knit, nylon and burlap blends, but the manner in which they are tightly hooked through the burlap foundation to make the finished product appear more like needlepoint. While Grenfell did not invent or teach this technique of rug hooking, it is nonetheless common to and associated with his missionary's products. The scenes depicted reflect life in the Labrador, showing polar bears, puffin, icebergs, or in the example illustrated here, a dog team sled and driver. For further information, see Kopp and Kopp, American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot (New York: 1985), p. 93.