For those of us who have a passion for rug hooking, it might be said we live with one foot
in the past…. When you spend hours enjoying a craft that dates back hundreds of years,
that statement is easy to understand. Perhaps this explains why preserving the past is
important to us, the Orange Coast Classics Chapter of ATHA.
In 2008, the Orange Coast Classics Chapter of ATHA, in Orange County California,
learned of efforts by Historic New England to reproduce some of the antique rugs at the
Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House Museum in Glouster MA. The chapter members were
eager and honored to be a part of that effort as we were told that many of their rugs are
quite old and not in very good condition. Our rug hooking chapter wanted to reproduce
one of the older rugs and give it to the museum so they would have it to display in the
home while safely storing and preserving the original.
The house, known as Beauport, a creation of Henry Davis Sleeper, was built between
1907 and 1934 on Eastern Point in Gloucester, MA. It began as a Queen Anne cottage
overlooking the harbor—a comfortable summer retreat for Sleeper, a well-to-do young
bachelor from Boston, and his widowed mother. But, almost as soon as the house was
finished, Sleeper began to lay plans for expanding it. Over the next twenty-seven years,
he continually added rooms, each one decorated to express a theme. Upon Sleeper’s
death in 1934 Mr. and Mrs. Charles McCann of New York purchased the house. They left
most of Sleeper’s arrangements just as he had had them.
In June 2008, our chapter president, Sally Coon, contacted Pilar Garro , Site Manager for
Beauport, Sleeper – McCann house, one of thirty-six historic house museums owned by
the preservation organization Historic New England, to determine how we might assist in
their preservation efforts. And so the story begins….
While in New England for a business trip, Sally made a site visit to the Sleeper-McCann
house to meet with Pilar Garro. The museum/house is filled with many antiques and, of
course, hooked rugs of all sizes, shapes and colors. Pilar and the museum curator had
selected 3 rugs for our project consideration, based on condition, rareness of pattern and
placement.
After selecting a rug for our reproduction project, Sally got right to work tracing a pattern
and, the more difficult job, matching colors with color swatches she had brought with
her. She also took many photographs of different sections of the rug so that we would
have a guide for hooking this 48” square antique rug.
The selected rug was from the Octagon Room at Beauport. The rug had been a gift,
along with the house, from Constance M. Betts, Helena W. Guest, and Fraiser W.
McCann in 1942. They estimate that the rug was originally hooked between 1850 and
1875.
Next steps, in late 2008, included transferring the traced pattern to linen (accomplished
by Gene Shepherd), and dying over 19 yards of wool to match the original rug
(accomplished by 12 members under Gene Shepherd’s supervision). Nearly thirty
members signed up to participate in the hooking of the rug. It was decided that we would
pass the rug from person to person at our routine hooking gatherings and the volunteer
hooking artist would work at his/her own pace at home. All those who worked on the
recreation of the rug added to a journal that was given to Historic New England with the
rug when it was completed in 2010.
Finally, the completed reproduction was delivered by Diane Daniels, a past Orange Coast
Classics Chapter President, in 2010. The Beauport staff were thrilled with the gift, and it
found its new home in the Octagon Room. As previously stated, it was an honor to assist
in preserving a small portion of rug hooking and American history.