There she blows!! Welcome mat with whaling scene

Date1880 - 1920

Object number00006155

NameWelcome mat

MediumTextile: wool, cotton, linen

DimensionsOverall: 447 × 620 mm

ClassificationsDecorative and folk art

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionPictorial welcome rug depicting a whaling scene, possibly American, late 19th to early 20th century. 'Welcome' appears along bottom of the rug, 'There she blows !!' above a depiction of a whale. A looped pile rug made on a coarse tabby weave linen ground, hessian backing, polychrome fabrics of differing textiles.HistoryGenerally considered a rural craft .They were widely made and used in the middle to late nineteenth century but enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s. Believed to be indigenous to North America, the earliest examples came from Maritme regions of Canada and Northern New England. The rug maker could recyle scraps of fabric into useful and decorative floor coverings. The pile surface was made by using a hook to pull a narrow strip of cloth through a coarsely woven foundation fabric in a series of loops. Designs for hooked rugs were geometric, or based on flowers and animals or copied from printed illustrations .SignificanceThe United States dominated the whaling industry in the early to mid C19th, it was a source of great pride and commerce to those areas whose lived in the area of New England.