Collectors seek rag rugs made as early as 1830s

#Middlebury #Antiques

Were rag rugs made of wool strips first made in Canada 150 years ago to cover dirt floors? Or were they first made in England during the early 19th century from short pieces of yarn left over from making woven rugs in a weaving mill? Some even say the Vikings were first to make the rugs.

This early 20th-century rug, 33 inches by 50 inches and perhaps a Hutchinson design, sold at a Garth’s auction in Ohio for $1,560.

Collectors want hooked rugs made as early as the 1830s. Almost all old rugs offered for sale are made on backings of free burlap from old feed sacks after 1850. Some of the better-known rugs of the 1900s were made with strips of used clothes. Grenfell Mission rugs of 1916 used silk stockings, and in the 1950s, nylon stockings or T-shirt strips. The rugs became so popular that classes were formed, lessons were given and commercial patterns were sold. This folk-art craft of the poor was wanted by decorators for the well-to-do, so prices went up.

Today, collectors pay the most for early rugs with animal designs or flowers. Rugs made from pre-stamped Edward Frost designs on burlap backing made in the late 1800s also get high prices. All Grenfell Mission rugs and mats are popular, and contemporary mats from the original old patterns still are made. Hutchinson rugs designed in the 1920s to 1940s are desirable. They often have funny pictures and sayings. A rug showing a man chasing a woman that reads “Take, oh! Take Those Lips Away!” sold at Garth’s Auctioneers for $1,560.

Q: How can I get an appraisal for an upright piano made by Bush & Lane of Chicago? It’s mahogany, in good condition and is at least 150 years old. I would like to find a buyer in the Philadelphia area.

A: Bush & Lane made upright, grand and player pianos under several brand names. The company started in Chicago in 1891 under the name Victor Piano & Organ Co. The name was changed to Bush & Lane Piano Co. in 1904. The factory moved to Holland, Mich., by 1905. It went out of business in 1930. If your piano is marked Chicago, it probably was made in about 1904. You can contact stores in your area that sell used pianos to get an appraisal. They also may want to buy your piano, but don’t expect to get a big price for an old upright unless the case is very ornate. Similar pianos have sold in recent years for under a few hundred dollars.

Current Prices
Fireplace Log Bin, copper, oval, straight sides, handles, 1800s, 14 x 27 inches, $30.
Butter chip, geranium leaf shape, yellow, green, majolica, Griffen, Smith & Hill, c. 1860, 2 3/4 inches, $100.
Quilt, applique, five pots of red poinsettias, white background, 81 1/4 x 67 1/4 inches, $180.
Captain Marvel, toy cars, four racers, clockwork, multicolor, box, Automatic Toy Co., 4 inches, $330.

TIP: If the drawer on your antique-looking furniture is held together with new screws, nails or staples, it is not an antique.

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(c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.