Badding Rug is a Victorian cross-stitch embroidery made in 1950 entirely by hand by Carolyn Badding of San Leandro, California. Measuring 12 feet by 15 feet, on the back of a Smyrna canvas made up of seven pieces that were strung together before the stitches began, it featured about 1,260,000 stitches in French wool. Research conducted prior to its completion revealed no embroidered carpet record of the proportion of Badding Rug completed by every American citizen. This carpet is credited in a number of news articles to be a masterpiece of embroidery. The Badding Rug is compared to that owned by Queen Mary consisting of six complete strips sewn together.
Video Badding Rug
Planning
Badding devotes one year of research, planning, and design following the tradition of French rugmaking to ensure the carpet is authentic in its conception and execution. Lena Hostetter, a Berkeley artist, is assisted by a full-color water sketch painting to serve as a color guide for sewing. Patterns are done first on graph paper, to scale, enlarged to full size, and interpreted in wool on canvas. Mabel Albright of Oakland assists in research, material estimates and in assembling strips of canvas foundations.
Maps Badding Rug
Composition
Badding found the job so interesting that he often spent 12 to 14 hours each day in the frame of his hand. He invested 5,000 hours to complete. One year spent in actual sewing work. He had guessed that the carpet would take three years, but enthusiasm changed his plans and he completed it in less than two years.
More than 100 pounds (45 kg) or 1826 ski wool were imported from France. Once it is re-dyed to achieve the right color, three solid weeks are required to decipher and sort the threads. The designs were made after the 17th and 18th century French Aubusson carpets. All the old French carpets are classified as Aubusson or Savonnerie. The flat weave is called Aubusson while the tufted or pile of Savonnerie. Thus, the names apply to methods and fabrics - not designs or colorations.
It is mostly rose and the beige colors are in contrast to the bright, light blue and soft gold touch bands on the border. The less dominant color is green, orchids, where the designs call for it. In flat weave, Badding Rug uses many traditional motifs, such as Greek urn, acanthus leaf, medal center and gem border, but the original design is original. The year the carpet was made and the initials of the maker were sewn into the corner of the carpet providing authentication in it.
Artist
Badding completed 104 embroidery sheets before working on a carpet project. These pieces are in addition to perfecting his artistic abilities and consist of chair chairs, bench covers, handbags and painting reproductions. She has been advised by her doctors to reduce her active civilian schedule to live a more sedentary life. He had two diseases including paralysis during his adolescence of eleven to sixteen years. At the beginning of the carpet making, it occurred to him that perhaps this effort could prove the value for the Children's Hospital. Her childhood illness inspired the offer of carpets as a fundraiser, so that paralyzed and sick children could be helped. Son of Badding weighs 2 Ã, ½ pounds at birth; therefore, raising funds to benefit "preemies".
This embroidery artist is at the original exhibit at Breuners of Oakland, CA. When asked how he chose this project, Badding said, "I have two reasons: The first is because I feel that we in America sometimes place excessive importance on the value and beauty of European arts and crafts.We think just because there is something that done in Europe, because that's better, I want to prove that we in America can do things worth noting on the ground as well. "The second reason for doing the job is his health. By the time he started working, Badding was ordered by his doctor to rest an hour for every two hours he woke up, and to do heavy work.
Exhibition
In 1951, the carpet was initially on display for the public to raise funds for an incubator for the East Bay Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA. Audiences flocked to see the largest rug of its kind. It was the first fund specifically marked for the care of premature babies for Children's Hospital in the East Bay.
In 1953, under the honor of Mamie Eisenhower, the carpet was put into the exhibition to benefit the Lighthouse Friendship Fund. Program for the Eighth National Exposition of the Needlework Of Today Inc. at Hammer Gallery, New York City, April 13-25, 1953 presents easily recognizable names from this historical era. Following the traditions of the times of each name preceded by the status of madame - - there is Ny. Dwight Eisenhower, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Ny. Reginald Fullerton, Ny. George Patterson and Mrs. Montgomery Dorsey.
After Badding's death in August 1953, the tapestry hung in Ny Museum. Dwight D. Eisenhower in New York City for 9 years. Carl "Jerry" M. Morris acquired the Badding Rug in 1973 in exchange for the twin Power Boat 36 'engine. He moved from California to Hawaii. Since there was no effective way to transport his boat, he decided to accept an offer to exchange it for the carpet. He put it in his shop, Shoe Tree and Things, at Kona Beach Shopping Center in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii for 12 years. It's a well-advertised tourist attraction and very popular. After the return of Carl to the mainland, the Badding Rug was displayed by Alameda Historical Society - Alameda, CA for a year followed by two years at an antique shop on the San Francisco Peninsula before he carefully placed it in a warehouse where it remained until 2002.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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