At their best, antique hooked rugs convey a sense of everything we love about country life. Their hand-worked wool designs—often of such sentimental images as flowers, animals, and cottages—speak to an earlier time when care went into each loop. Hooked rugs from the late 1800s until the 1930s and ’40s (the advent of machine-made rugs) are highly sought after—both in the United States and in Canada. Ontario-based antiques dealer Carol Telfer, who has participated in antiques shows in the U.S. and Canada for the past 25 years, has a reputation for quality antique Canadian hooked rugs.
 
“Late-19th-century hooked rugs, in perfect condition, with colors that have not faded are the top of the line,” says Telfer, who recently auctioned a number of high-quality Canadian hooked rugs. “To collectors, what really matters is the quality of the rug, not necessarily whether it is from Canada versus the U.S.,” she says. “If it’s a top-of-the-line North American piece, that’s the main thing.” An example of an exceptionally high-quality Canadian rug in Telfer’s auction is the 1920s, thunderbird-motif rug worked by British Columbian rug-maker Emily Carr, which Telfer said was in the $40,000-to-$60,000 price range.

Fortunately, there are many good antique Canadian hooked rugs in the $500 range, says Telfer. She advises beginning collectors to look for quality, solid condition, and a minimum of repairs. “To me, the image is less important than the workmanship, the color, and the condition,” says Telfer. “It could be a floral or a scenic. It really doesn’t matter, as long as it appeals to you, of course.”

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To see more Canadian hooked rugs, go to the Web site of the Textile Museum of Canada and search for “hooked rug.”