The concept of a LOGO, a symbol to represent a business or an artisan, is a very old one, rooted in a past when many people could not read. A customer might find lodging at the “sign of the Silent woman” or at the “sign of the Black horse”. A pewterer would often sign his work with a touch mark that included an eagle or another symbol.
In this tradition, some weavers of Early American coverlets had charming designs in the signature corners of the great Jacquard coverlets, so treasured by collectors now. Several early New York state weavers used wonderful folky little lions as symbols to identify their work. I have seen at least four different ones. I have wanted to hook one of these for years and years. Recently I included one adapted for hooking with a group of new patterns to be printed by Barb Carroll.
And now I am hooking him, in small increments that I can manage. This saucy little cat has already found a favorite perch on a small sofa upholstered in a coverlet design. Sized for a small pillow, he would be a quick project for most rug hookers. I can see him in a mixture of brick reds and tans or this blue and brown palette. With either color choice, I would like to have a great deal of variation in the background to add interest, as he will be viewed from close up.
Barb has printed this pattern, called “Weaver’s Lion”, and another pattern showing a lion and lamb titled “Kingdom Come”, plus “Cape Ann”, a large rug in my Hadley series, mentioned in another post. As soon as anyone has worked one of these I would love to put it here on my blog. Best, Edyth
