Hooked rugs have long been one of the most sought-after country icons—a textural folk art form beloved for its handmade appeal and country motifs. But the popularity of hooked rugs has also driven the prices for 18th- and 19th-century rugs up into four and five figures.

Catching the eye of country antiques dealer Bonnie Wixson recently was an early 20th-century nylon-rayon hooked rug that she called Grenfell-style, a reference to the hooked mats and rugs made at the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, in the 1910s through 1930s.

“The Grenfell rugs have a distinctive look because of their very small stitches, muted colors, and mostly northern themes—dog teams, puffins, polar bears,” says Wixson, owner of Quail Country Antiques (www.quailcountryantiques.com), a group antiques shop in northern California.

Authentic Grenfell rugs (with a sewn-on label) were often made of women’s nylon or rayon stockings, and are today quite pricey—from $400 to $3,000 and up—and hard to find. Early 1900s Grenfell-style rugs—like the one that Wixson currently has in her online catalog—are priced under $200. The appeal of the Grenfell-style rugs lies in their muted colors, soft texture, and handmade appearance.