Rag Rugs

 

Rag Rugs

 

Another type of floor covering used during Colonial times was a rag rug.  This rug was woven by hand using strips of old clothing, blankets, etc. that were no longer able to be used for their original purpose.  This style of  rug is used frequently today in the country, primitive, or period home. 

 

 

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History of Rag Rugs

History ofWeaving Rag Rugs

History of Rag Rugs

These rugs originated in England and Europe, and in New England they became a

favored choice. Rag rugs are produced in a plain, flat weave style. Rag rugs are woven

on hand or machine looms where the weft is made of strips of cloth. They can be a solid

color or a mix of many colors. Rag rugs may consist of irregular stripes in bright cheerful

colors.

American rag rugs were a specialty in Colonial New England on the frontier during the

westward U.S. expansion movement. Rag rugs were made in Europe and as a practical

and vernacular floor covering, came to America with the early immigrants, and passed

down through the generations, mostly produced by recycling worn clothing or other

textiles. In the 1900’s rug making traditions were dispersed and sometimes modified to

take advantage of the local availability of materials. Different techniques flourished in

different sections of the country with woolen rugs becoming well established in New

England due to proximity of the woolen mills. Where railroads provided economical

transportation, wool and cotton fabrics produced on the east coast were made available

for rug making in other areas of the expanding U.S.

Rag scraps were a product which, sooner or later, everyone in America possessed.

The scraps were comprised of worn out fabric from old clothing, bedding, and

household furnishings that was too small or worn to continue in its previous function.

Flax and wool were the most prevalent raw materials, depending on the region, for the

rag rugs in the 18th century. Each material requires much time to process. Flax needed

months to grow, dry, and spin the fibers. Wool needed to be sheared; carded, or wiretoothed

brushed, used to disentangle wool fibers prior to spinning; spun; and shipped

from England. These were precious materials that could not be wasted, not even burlap

sacks could be wasted; they were used in many of the bases of rag rugs. The material

was cut into strips and converted into a rag rug. Rag rugs provided a way for

every household to have a floor covering or carpet to provide protection from drafts or

keep the floor clean and protected.

The 19th-century heyday of rag rugs, has left very few examples as they were not

treated as heirlooms. A new rug was often made each winter and the old ones rotated

around the house, from hearthrug to kitchen to back door, with the old doormat either

 

thrown away or used outside to cover the potato clump or compost heap. Thus very few

survived.

 

The types of rag rugs are categorized by weave and style. The most common were

hand woven rugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windsor Chairs

Windsor Chairs

 

 

Windsor chairs are an important addition to your primitive/country home to add an element of believability to your room.  A purest may prefer to find an antique Windsor chair, but there are many skilled craftspeople who create authentic-looking reproductions of the Windsor chairs and settles.  I have added a post on the History of the Windsor Chair if you would like further reading on them.

 

 

 

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Windsor Chairs

                 

 

 

History of the Windsor Chair

 



A Windsor chair is a wood chair whose back and sides consist of multiple thin, turned spindles that are attached to a solid, sculpted seat; its straight legs splay outward and its back reclines slightly. It takes its name from the English town of Windsor, where it originated around 1710.
Legend has it that King George II, seeking shelter from a storm, arrived at a peasant cottage and was given a multi-spindled chair to sit on. Its comfort and simplicity impressed him so much he had his own furniture-maker copy it - and the Windsor vogue was born, according to the Treasury of American Design and Antiques by Clarence P. Hornung. By the 1730s, the chair had crossed the ocean and began appearing in Britain's American colonies. It was first crafted, probably, in Philadelphia, then throughout New England and other regions.
Yankee Ingenuity
If the Windsor chair developed in England, its form was perfected in America. Colonial craftsmen eliminated the central splat featured in the original chair's back. They also slenderized the splats and legs, and developed, for some models, the 'continuous arm' - that is, the chair arms and back rim are made of a single, bent piece of wood. These alterations simultaneously strengthened the chair while giving it a light, airy appearance - "a delicate balance and harmony," as Hornung puts it.
Windsors come in a variety of styles, including armchairs, side chairs, rockers, and - as many students of a certain age remember - writing chairs. There are even Windsor settees. The spindled backs come in several heights and shapes too, and Windsors are usually identified by that feature: "low back", "comb back", "bow back." But the best-known, the version that seems the quintessential Windsor, is the sack-back or hoop-back, usually an armchair with a semi-circular back. These are the ones that often appear in portraits of prominent colonial figures and, as the American Revolution approached, members of the Second Continental Congress. In fact, cabinetmaker Francis Trumble made more than a hundred of them for the Philadelphia State House in the 1770s where the Declaration of Independence was drafted.
Other Windsor Chair Characteristics:

• Windsors were made of a combination of cheaper woods: hickory - an especially pliable wood for the spindles; pine for the seat; maple, ash or oak for other components.
• To disguise the mixture of timber, they were painted; dark green, brown or black were colors of choice, but lighter dyes - reds, yellow and even white - were common, too.
• The slightly sunken saddle seats are typically shield- or oval-shaped.
• Legs are often connected with an H-stretcher. They can be simple or elaborately turned; some from the late 1700s/early 1800s are scored to resemble bamboo stalks (with correspondingly scored spindles).
• Feet are a simple taper, or an arrow foot.
• Arms typically terminate in paddle or knuckle shapes.

Prestige, Popularity and Prices
Windsors' popularity derived partly out of their association with the Founding Fathers - Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin all owned them - and partly because they were easy to manufacture. They may have been the first mass-produced style in the U.S. Beginning around the turn of the 19th century, furniture-makers began turning out separate components - spindles, legs, etc. Because the parts were interchangeable, they could easily be sold and shipped for assembly by local craftsmen around the country.
Furniture historians cite 1725 to 1860 as the golden age of the Windsor chair; after that, it began to seem old-fashioned and its dominance began to dwindle - along with its quality, as mass-manufactured models replaced handcrafted or hand-assembled examples.
But it's remained a staple in country furniture and enjoyed regular bouts of renewed interest, especially during the 1910s, as part of the Colonial Revival movement in furniture, and the 1980s, with the increased prestige of indigenous American arts and crafts. Today, authenticated 18th- and early 19th-century Windsor chairs can fetch prices in the four figures; those in mint condition, with their original paint, can easily bring five figures.
"In a good Windsor, lightness, strength, grace, durability and quaintness are all found in an irresistible blend," American furniture historian Wallace Nutting noted in A Windsor Handbook. The Windsor was, in a sense, the country's first chair: like the U.S. itself, an English prototype that developed in its own, unique direction.

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