Country rugs - collection of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little

Magazine Antiques, July, 1999 by Allison Eckardt Ledes

The collection formed by Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little over the course of more than half a century is legendary in the world of American antiques and folk art. Following their deaths in 1993, Cogswell's Grant, their eighteenth-century farm complex in Essex, Massachusetts, and its contents were bequeathed to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), whose headquarters is in Boston. It was a particularly fitting bequest, since Mr. Little had for many years been the director at that institution. Following an extensive inventory, SPNEA opened the property to the public last summer.

The Littles' approach to American decorative arts was highly personal and reflected their intense curiosity about life in earlier times. Soon they had formed a series of collections - for example of portraits, lighting devices, textiles, and ceramics - many of which had great range and depth, but all of which had aesthetic and documentary merit.

One of the collections that is particularly prominent at Cogswell's Grant is a large and choice assemblage of American rugs, which adds warmth and color to every room in the farmhouse. As Nina Little reflected in her landmark book Little by Little: Six Decades of Collecting American Decorative Arts, these rugs were relatively plentiful in the 1920s when they were "to be found stacked in tempting piles in most of the smaller shops, many of which had certainly originated in Canada only twenty or thirty years before. But they had some age, if not antiquity, and when they were carefully selected, the hooking was of high quality, the floral patterns were well designed, and the colors rich but seldom garish." Most of the hooked rugs at Cogswell's Grant date from the mid- to late nineteenth century.

Today's collectors, aware of their fragility, rarity, and the high prices they bring in the marketplace, often prefer to hang small antique hooked rugs on the wall. In response to those who desire to use them on the floor, SPNEA has recently developed a line of twenty-four reproductions, copied from those in various SPNEA properties including Cogswell's Grant, Beauport (in Gloucester, Massachusetts), and Hamilton House (in South Berwick, Maine). Orders are being taken now for shipment in October.

The reproductions are produced by Traditions in Claverack, New York, replicating techniques that were used in the nineteenth century. They are made by Old Order Amish women using hand-dyed and hand-cut wool strips that are faithful to the originals in texture and depth of color. The design is drawn on burlap backing and the strips of wool are hooked by hand into the burlap. Because they are handmade, the rugs take up to six weeks to complete and no two are identical. Also offered are kits that include all the materials needed to make a rug, or one can buy the pattern alone. The rugs may be ordered from SPNEA by telephoning 617-570-9105, extension 227. To locate a dealer who stocks the Historic New England line of reproductions issued by SPNEA, telephone 518-851-3975.