Illustration: Helen R Albee. Hooked rug design in two tones of chocolate and brown, with sketchy motifs in apple green, 1906.
Helen Albee was by no means the inventor of hooked rugs, but she was able to take an indigenous rural craft medium found in New England, and turn it into a highly successful design orientated venture that proved to be one of the most popular of the American rug making schemes seen at the beginning of the twentieth century.
These Abanakee rugs as they became known were derived from work that had traditionally been produced by the farming communities of New Hampshire. Odd scraps of fabric from worn out clothing were cut into strips and then drawn through rough canvas with hooks, hence the name hooked rugs. Many were produced in rural communities through necessity. They were often crude and were strictly produced for domestic consumption. It was Albee who had the foresight to notice that if the rugs were produced with an element of design and with a careful choice of both fabric and colour, an extra income could conceivably be procured for local farm women who were the original producers of the hooked rugs. These were often women with no outlet for financial betterment and were from families and communities that often struggled to make ends meet.
Illustration: Helen R Albee. Hooked rug design in green, red, orange, brown and black, 1906.
Albee reorganised and to a large extent, reinvented the hooked rug. She no longer used redundant second hand fabrics, but dyed her own, producing large amounts of subtly graduated tones using a number of colours, all of which were used in order to both blend and harmonise the finished rugs to both their compositions and their larger interior surroundings.
The rugs went through a series of decorative incarnations, but eventually Albee settled on forms that followed some of the geometrical elements of oriental and Native American formats. However, she was always careful not to follow these recognisably decorative formats too closely as she felt that indigenous originality was much more important than the copying of successful international styles that obviously belonged to other cultures and regions.
Illustration: Helen R Albee. Hooked rug design in apple green, 1906.
Albee and her endeavour proved to be extremely successful both creatively and financially. Her locally produced craft rugs fitted comfortably into the framework provided by the American Arts & Crafts movement, with Albee and her rugs featuring more than once in Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman magazine. Unfortunately, the illustrations shown in this article, although actually from one of The Craftsman features, were originally produced in black and white, therefore none of the subtleties of the rugs colour tones can be seen. However, the compositional design work is impressive and shows that Albee clearly understood both the medium and some relatively progressive ideas concerning the effect that could be achieved with particular attention to colour gradation and minimal pattern intrusion. I have included a description of the colours that were originally intended for each of the designed rugs. These descriptions can be seen under each illustration shown in this article.
Illustration: Helen R Albee. Hooked rug design in red and blue, 1906.
Albee, through her own strength of character and belief in the merit of the medium of hooked rugs, or at least her belief in what she thought was conceivably possible to achieve, produced an independent and wholly unique example of American homegrown craft. It was individuals of the calibre of Albee that helped to structure the uniqueness that was such an important element of the American Arts & Crafts movement. A movement that may well have had its origins in that of British Arts & Crafts, but was to produce a whole range of indigenous craft mediums that were rooted deep in the American experience and, as in Albee's decorative rugs, helped to give character and focus to the movement.
Illustration: Helen R Albee. Hooked rug design, 1904.
Helen Albee's popular book Abnakee Rugs was produced at the height of her success and gives some interesting insights into her abilities and her judgements as far as American homegrown crafts are concerned.
Further reading links:
Abnakee Rugs
Rug Hooking in Maine 1838-1940
The Rug Hooker's Bible: The Best from 30 Years of Jane Olson's Rugger's Roundtable [With Pattern]
Pictorial Hooked Rugs
The Complete Book of Rug Hooking
Rags to Rugs: Hooked and Handsewn Rugs of Pennsylvania
Hooked Rugs: An American Folk Art
Creating an Antique Look in Hand-hooked Rugs (Framework)
Hooked Rugs: History and the Continuing Tradition
Geometric Hooked Rugs: Color and Design (Framework)
Hooked on Wool: Rugs, Quilts, And More
American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot
The Rug Hook Book: Techniques, Projects And Patterns For This Easy, Traditional Craft
The lore and lure of hooked rugs,
Celebration of Hand-hooked Rugs (Rug Hooking)
Rug Art - Rescued From Oblivion: A Hooked Rug Museum of North America Research project
The Complete Guide to Collecting Hooked Rugs: Unrolling the Secrets
The Secrets of Color in Hand-Hooked Rugs: Your Complete Guide to Selecting and Choosing Color
American Hooked Rug Patterns (International Design Library)
The Americana Collection: Hooked Rugs (That Patchwork Place)
