Silk Stocking Mats: Hooked Mats of the Grenfell Mission

by Paula Laverty

A lavishly illustrated history of the Grenfell Mission's exquisite hooked mats and the handcraft movement that inspired an international audience.

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2005

Reviews

[b · Rating 5 out of 5]

While some of the writing here is a little bit shaky in terms of transparently sourcing or qualifying an anecdote now and then, this beautiful coffee-table book ‘transcends’ (a yucky verb but migraine wont permit a more playful excursion at this moment) the genre to relate a pretty thorough history of the mission, and accompanying examples of the work produced over the years. Some of the info felt extraneous, or distant (listing the cost of the mats when they were made without relating an equivalent cost for a contemporary was a bit of a tedious little easter egg hunt to send eager readers on), and I’m not sure if the epistolary elements really illuminated very much, plunked down more to prove there’d been access into archives or the like than to actually relate the history of the mission and the rugs. The book also suffers from a bit of willful naivety about the workers having been taken advantage of under the industrial model, but I think any keen reader (and any faux-communist under 30 [is this all of us? I don’t put myself here but Christmas dinner conversations sure do put me here]) will be able to read between the lines on this; I know writing regional history asks a lot from an author, because casting things in complex grays distracts from the plotted events, but the internalized assumption that industry arrives somewhere and ‘saves’ everyone is pretty off-base, and I’ve read a lot of contrary accounts in my own research (which I am grateful to have my university’s library access to facilitate). I am being pretty fussy in my review, and I am getting a little off the mark, but the book was well-enough written and assembled that it demands this fussiness in its critique. I learned a lot about the region, and about this special brand of regional rug, and I can’t wait to go find some in person to look at. This would be a great gift for anyone with an interest in hooked rugs, textiles, pre-confederate NL history, or beautiful coffee table books. Really enjoyed this on the whole, and was sad when I came upon its index and realized the journey was over.