The Pictorial Rug

The Pictorial Rug by Jane E. Halliwell

Copyright 2000

After beginning "Tis and Taint", I was able to purchase this book on pictorial rugs.  Jane states that these rugs can be hooked in 3 styles: primitive, realistic, or impressionist.  Primitive art lacks detail and pays little attention to scale and perspective.  The strips used to hook them are usually a 1/4 inch or larger.

Briarwood Folk Art Pattern Inspired by Magdalena Briner Eby

 Realism is representing the subject truthfully.  It has details, shading, and perspective.  Jane says rugs portraying Currier & Ives prints are good examples.  These rugs are often hooked in a #2 or #3 strip. (1/16th inch or 3/32 inch).

Small Town USA, circa 1940s, based on the Artwork of George Kovach
Hooked by Roland Nunn

Impressionism is somewhere between primitive and realistic.  Impressionist rugs lean toward realism but lack some detail and are hooked in a #4 or #5 (1/8 inch or 5/32 inch).  Using Jane's definitions, I would categorize "Tis and Taint" as an impressionistic design.  Most of the strips I've used have been cut in a #4.

From research I was able to find that "Tis and Taint" (no.912) was created and published on July 20, 1978.  I still haven't seen a completed rug.