Hooked Rug Gem Makes Museum
Start digging to the bottom of those boxes in the attic, basement or garage. A donation to the University of Waterloo earlier this year has turned up a prized, Grenfell hooked mat buried among documents from the YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo.
The mat might have gone unnoticed if not for the keen eye of librarian, Jessica Blackwell, who consulted with a colleague, retired head of Special Collections and Archives at the Dana Porter Library Jane Britton, who said it was unlike anything they’ve ever received for safekeeping.
Grenfell hooked mats hail from Newfoundland and Labrador. The flawlessly hooked pieces are coveted folk art that can fetch prices into the thousands of dollars.
Dr. Wilfrid Grenfell, a doctor in the 1900s, attempted to alleviate financial hardship in the St. Anthony’s area by establishing The Industrial, a cottage industry for local women. February and March became the “matting season” and artisans turned out thousands of works, reaching peak production in the late 1920s. The YWCA artifact uses the trade- mark dyed silk stockings of The Industrial.
Sadly, the Depression knocked the wind out of international sales and, by the Second World War, transportation challenges diminished the program.
The YWCA mat has been donated to the Hooked Rug Museum of North America in Nova Scotia. Sherry Chandler, the museum’s director and treasurer, is ecstatic.
“To get a Grenfell with a tag intact is rare. It is definitely a thrill to get one donated,” she says.