This
info. was passed on to me and I thought it was worth sharing with all
of you. I think it would be an awesome show to see if you can get there.
Good Afternoon,
I
am sending this letter out to others I know could possibly be
interested in the upcoming exhibitions. I know some of you live far
away from Wilmington, DE, but this sounds like a very interesting
exhibition and the possibility of seeing quite an extensive display of
hooked rugs from the 1800’s.
I
received a phone call last week from Vanessa Spence, EAD &
Community Development Assistant, at the Hagley Museum and Library in
Wilmington, DE. She found my name some way and wanted to run something
by me to see if I thought people would be interested. The Hagley
Museum is a part of Winterthur and Longwood Gardens.
Info regarding Hagley copied from their website: "Hagley
Museum is the former industrial site of the original black powder works
of the DuPont Company, founded in Delaware in 1802 and powered by the
natural resources that surrounded it. Today it is 235 acres of wooded
rolling hills along the rushing Brandywine River dotted with hundreds of
stone ruins of the black powder industry, dozens of restored buildings
associated with the business, and the original ancestral home and
gardens of the du Pont family in America. Here, for more than two
hundred years, the DuPont Company and family experimented, innovated,
and pursued the American dream."
Vanessa
then went on to explain that there is a hooked rug, 9 x 12 feet, that
was hooked by Nancy DuPont Reynolds Cooch in the 1940’s and completed in
the 1950’s. This rug shows the history of the DuPont family and
business from the early 1800’s starting with the ship that the family
arrived on in the U.S. The rug reminds me of a folk life rug or story
rug. The curator at the museum, Debra Hughes, said that it is on burlap
and they are working to keep it in it’s best shape.
The thread is nylon, not wool. It was made with DuPont synthetic
fibers and dyed using the new dyes at that time to create the colors
used in the rug. It is in remarkable condition. Mrs. Cooch donated
this rug to the museum in her later years and was aware they were
planning an exhibition, but passed away last Monday.
This
exhibition begins on March 20, 2015. There will only be this one rug
on display at this time, but other plans for another exhibitions are in
the making as below:
They
also informed me that the museum has at least 100 hooked rugs in their
collection starting from the 1800’s. These rugs were owned by Mrs.
Louise DuPont Crowningshield and she collected them over her lifetime.
She died in 1958. They are now in the early stages of planning an
exhibition of these rugs which will be coming in the future after some
renovations of the residence take place.
Please forward this information to other guilds in your area, especially in PA, MD, DE, VA, etc.
Deb Burcin, President of the Woolwrights in Lancaster County, PA
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