Ice Skating & Famous People…

 

WINTER is a time for the snowy & cold outdoor activities & sports. ICE SKATING is one great option! Whether you have actually tried it or not, you may have a connection through a love of the sport of ice hockey, figure skating or speed skating. Or perhaps it’s just one of those romantic, idealistic activities that you'll always dreamt of doing – someday.

The Ice Is Thin, It Signifies How Soon Youth Fades & Pleasures Die
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

Ice Skating has made an appearance in historic & contemporary fiber art too. James & Mercedes designed a number of hooked rugs which captured ice skating in a number of different scenes & vignettes. 

In this first rug, the Hutchinsons did a great job of expressing motion & activity, you can almost hear the skaters’ blades cutting through the ice, the dog barking & the children laughing with delight! It’s also interesting the way the skates are skimming over the upper edges of the words – I love that effect. It’s almost as if they are skating the words into the rug! This rug is filled with fun & frolic, but the poignant message on LIFE brings you back to reality – a Hutchinson trademark! 

Fenimore Art Museum

In 20I7, I had the privilege to go & see this rug in person at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York. It was one of many fabulous pieces in their exhibit titled: The Art of Figure Skating, Through the Ages – The Dick Button Collection. 

Dick said, “Everything in our world changes.” He had this to say about the rug's message, “It signifies how quickly life changes for everybody.” And finally, he said, “It’s one of my FAVORITE PIECES!” Listen to this  short Facebook video: click here     

Richard Totten Button, better known as Dick Button, just passed away on January 30^th, at age 95. A trailblazer in the skating world, he introduced & performed innovative moves & made sport’s history…

•  2-time Olympic gold medalist
•  5-time world champion figure skater
•  7 U.S. Senior titles
•  U.S. Junior & Novice titles
•  3 North American Championships
•  Only American to win the European title
•  1st skater to land a double axel
•  1st skater to land a triple jump (the triple loop)
•  1st male skater to perform camel spin & the inventor of the flying camel spin
•  1st American World Champion
•  1st & only American back-to-back Olympic Gold Medalist in figure skating
•  1st & only male skater to hold a National, North American, European, Olympic & World title at the same time
•  Youngest man to win an Olympic Gold Medal in figure skating.
• In 1976, he was inducted into both the U.S. & World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.

 

After the Olympics, he toured with Holiday on Ice & Ice Capades. For decades, he commentated & hosted skating events on TV. Dick is credited for developing professional figure skating competitions, which allowed hundreds of skaters to make a living from their sport. As a skating commentator, he won an Emmy Award. He judged Skating with the Stars & Battle of the Blades, acted in movies & TV programs with Mickey Rooney, Tony Curtis, Gene Kelly & Robert Goulet, starred in touring stage productions. In 2000, Dick fractured his skull & developed multiple concussions & blood clots, after a fall while skating – he survived this serious head & brain injury. Dick even wrote a book titled: Push Dick's Button. WOW! What a life!

In 2019, 556 pieces from Dick Button’s skating collection, many of which had been displayed in the Fenimore exhibit, went up for sale at Brunk’s Premier Auction in Asheville, North Carolina. Above are just a couple examples of auction items.

The Hutchinson The Ice Is Thin rug was estimated to sell for $1,000-$2,000. Due to its charm, Americana theme, condition & especially it’s provenance – part of the Dick Button collection, it sold for over $8,000. The rug is now in the collection of the Fenimore Art Museum. (Always check to see if the rug is on exhibit, don’t assume it is.)

All Airy Grace They Skim the Dell, Where In The Summer Flowers Dwell
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

Here we have an elegant lady in an ermine fur trimmed coat being led by a dapper gentleman wearing a top hat, sporting a typical Hutchinson moustache. The charming ice skating scene would be perfect to open any Rom Com or Hallmark movie, LOL! So suave & debonaire! The images, as well as the inscribed wording, convey the winter scene, but also take you back to memories of summer – by adding the beautiful pink dogwood blossoms & green leaves, that surround the couple, along with the other part of the inscribed message.

As with the majority of Hutchinson rugs, they either make you laugh, think or pose a question! (For a little more info on this particular rug & it’s one time owner Betsey Marie Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, check out my 1-31-22 blog post titled: February –Love is in the Air)

Airy Grace They Skim in the Dell, Where in the Summer Flowers Dwell

While a photo of this rug, or the rug itself, has not yet been discovered, it is believed that this is a different rug than the one above. Why? The 1946 auction catalogue, where it was listed for sale, describes the “floral sprays at the corners” – instead of flowers throughout the background. Some of the colors are also different. Finally, a few of the words in the rug have been changed – “all” has been left off & “in” had been added. The Hutchinsons are known to have done a few “rug repeats” of their designs or themes. But for our purposes today – I’m mentioning them both because they feature ice skaters.

Ermine or Short-tailed Weasel

In a number of the Hutchinson rugs, the ladies wore Ermine fur, so here is more info…. Royalty wore ermine because it was considered a symbol of purity due to the white fur of the ermine with its black tip, representing the idea that the animal would rather die than soil its white coat. This associated it with concepts like moral integrity & high status. It was a prestigious choice for royal & upper-class garments in the Middle Ages & Renaissance. Wearing ermine was also a way to showcase wealth & power as it was a very expensive fur to acquire. If you were not a member of royalty or the upper class, you could find recreations of the look, at working man’s wages.

Children Will Play, Four Seasons Round
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

The left side of this rug represents the Winter season. Old Man Winter is blowing a blast of frigid air over a group of ice skating children playing Crack the Whip. They hold hands, as the leader changes direction & speed, which causes some to fall & others to fly off in different directions. An older couple skates around the chaos, with a concerned expression on their faces.

Children’s Christmas Party Rug
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

The First Day of School

James & Mercedes Hutchinson

The 4^th of July, All Had a Good Time

James & Mercedes Hutchinson

The Children Will Play rug is similar to the 3 rugs above, filled with children, that are in the Shelburne Museum collection in Vermont. The 2 on the right were once in the collection of Hollywood movie stars of Fred MacMurray (My 3 Sons) & June Haver. The Hutchinson rugs that are filled with children are rare & coveted. I added these 3 to this story for anyone who is not familiar with them, & only familiar with the more humorous Hutchinson rugs.

Mark & Susan Laracy

The Children Will Play rug was once owned by the Moore family of Litchfield County, Connecticut possibly from the 1946 to 1998. In the 1998 Moore estate auction, Mark & Susan Laracy purchased the rug.

Mark is the 1981 founder of Parfums de Coeur which manufactured, marketed & distributed perfumes, body fragrances, lotions, personal care products & other toiletry preparations in the U.S. Mark was the brainchild of designer imposter fragrances. Parfums de Coeur believed people wanted to smell good but couldn’t afford designer perfumes. Designer imposter scents, smelling just like the originals, were developed & sold in national discount stores like Kmart, Sears, Wal-Mart & drug stores, with bold marketing plans, & affordable prices. For example, if you liked Georgio Cologne, it would set you back $48, but Parfums de Coeur’s Primo only costed $8. The knockoff scents had strikingly similar names to their originals, along with similar packaging, like Obsession & imitation Ecstasy, Vanderbilt & imitation Fairchild, Halston & imitation Hampton. Besides developing the imposter fragrances, Parfums de Coeur also scooped up other companies like Prince Matchabelli, which was making the popular Wind Song. In 1996, the company was making $95 million & in 1999 making $120 million a year in sales from imposter fragrances. In 2015, the company’s name changed to PDC Brands to improve the company’s position in mass retail & boost sales, this soon made them a worldwide brand. Perhaps you wore one of his perfume products over the years… it wouldn’t be unusual, since they dominated the market!

In his professional life, Mark was all about copies, imitations & reproductions – at the cheapest retail price. In his personal life, it was the complete opposite. In 1982, Mark & his wife Susan bought their first antique & plunged into the Americana world. Over the next 25 years, they started collected intensely. Why? When asked, Mark said “When you are 40, you want to convey an image of stability & having had ancestors, even if you come from nowhere, Americana provides that.” The couple attended top auctions, sales, antique fairs & worked with well-respected antique dealers. The original American furniture & folk art that they collected found a special place in their Georgian colonial house in New Canaan, Connecticut.

An Americana expert, author & educator, Elisabeth Donaghy Garrett, made this comment about the Laracy collection & makes special mention of their Hutchinson rug:

“It is an exceptional collection in terms of provenance, outstanding form, condition, outline & color, but the theme that popped out at me is love, or affection, which comes through pictorially. There are pieces with hearts & courting couples on textiles & plaques. There’s a playfulness that carries through.”

“One hooked rug shows 34 children jumping rope, skating, fishing & dancing around a maypole, with a banner reading Children will play, four seasons round.”

Mark said this about their collection “Our approach was to focus on the finest examples we could find across a number of categories. We never once thought of these outlays as investments, but bought because we loved & fiercely coveted.” – Again, confirming his personal love & profound need for “originals” not mass-produced copies – in his personal life.

Provenance seems to have been particularly important to Mark & Susan, which is often important & a deciding factor to other notable collectors, when it comes to buying an antique. A number of the Laracy’s pieces were once owned by Bertram K & Nina Fletcher Little the well-known Massachusetts couple whose collection had been researched extensively, exhibited & published. Perhaps you have visited their one-time summer home…. Cogswell’s Grant, part of the Historic NewEngland collection of homes (many of which are filled with hooked rugs).

 

In 2007, Mark & Susan, decided to downsize. They sold their New Canaan, Connecticut home & auctioned 225 pieces of their collection, as they downsized & moved into Manhattan. The sale brought over $7 million, exceeding expectations. I’m still unsure of this rug’s current owner. I know it’s not the Shelburne Museum or the Fenimore Art Museum.

Pleasures of Childhood: Red Rover, Skipping Rope, Skating, Blindman’s Bluff
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

This rug is similar to the Children Will Play rug; in that it shows groups of children performing activities. In the bottom left, you can see the word “Skating” along with 4 children dressed in winter clothing (scarfs, hats, sweaters & mittens) & they are having a grand time ice skating. Except for the 5^th child, who has fallen on the ice.

While most of the Hutchinson rugs with groups of children are owned by the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, the owner of this rug has yet to be discovered.

The Hutchinson rugs with large groups of children are highly coveted. I never put away my detective hat, the search will continue!

Central Park in Winter
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

 

James & Mercedes lived in Brooklyn, New York, so skating in Central Park would be something quite familiar to them. While we only have the black & white photo from the auction catalogue, where it originally sold in 1941, & a short rug description from that same catalogue: An unhappy looking young lady in a toboggan escorted by a gentleman in blue, on skates. If she is indeed unhappy, is it from the cold weather or a bad date? She certainly is all decked out in an ermine fur collar, muff & hat. Again, holly is used in this rug, as in the Thin Ice rug. I like the pattern in his blowing scarf, don’t you?

 

(If you’re fond of sledding themes in hooked rugs, there are a group of Hutchinson rugs which feature that winter activity too. Just check out our book. It's interesting & inspiring!)

I Love The Changing Seasons
James & Mercedes Hutchinson

This Hutchinson rug depicts all 4 seasons in vignettes. Winter, in the bottom left corner. There are 3 pine trees in the background. The auction catalogue says that it’s a family ice skating, but if you look closely, you may disagree. The lady has an alarming expression on her face & appears to be skating away from the gentleman on her left. He looks like he is making an unwelcome move on her. While another gentleman is skating into the scene from her right, perhaps, coming to her rescue. So, I’m not getting the family vibe! Not to mention this is one of the skating rugs without children in the scene!

 

The following Hutchinson rugs feature ice skating, unfortunately we still haven’t uncovered either a photo of the rug or the rug itself. (Research & discoveries continue, as mentioned above.) All of the following rugs are inscribed with the words of their titles, although I’m unsure about the last one…

Ø A Winter’s Pastime – A young man on skates pushing a sled in which is seated a young woman in ermine-trimmed coat, a pair of lovers & 2 children skating in the background above.

Ø An Evening of Romance – A skating party rug depicting a man & woman at full length, ice skating beneath a star-filled sky.

Ø Jingle Bells – A Christmas Holiday rug with a husband & wife at the lower right, greeting guests arriving in a sleigh; in the background children sledding & skating.

Ø The More The Merrier – Depicting a group of happy children in colorful skating costumes.

Ø Warm Hearts Don’t Feel The Cold – Two youthful lovers in brown & magenta costume, skating while Cupid hovers above them.

Ø When Hearts Are Young, Cold Winter Does Not Matter – Two youthful couples skating, in brown, celadon green & blue costume on an oyster white field.

Ø Winter Sports Rug – Delineated with skaters & a sleighing party with dog, in gay colors on a variegated oyster white ground. (Not sure if there are any words inscribed in this rug.)

If you live in a place that is cold & snowy in the winter, perhaps you might enjoy ice skating this winter. It’s one of my fond childhood memories. One Christmas, my Dad brought home ice skates for us, from Sears. We enjoyed many days & nights ice skating on the big & little ponds of Painesville’s Recreation Park, along with the bon fires. A couple of times, Dad even flooded the yard, to make our own ice skating rink. Afterward, Mom always had hot chocolate & fresh baked cookies. Fun times!

With the recent passing of Dick Button, I thought it would be a good time to pay tribute to him & his contributions to our country. As a collector, I’d like to thank him for taking care of so many wonderful treasures for so many years!

Well, the Hutchinsons have done it again! They took a theme – Ice Skating & they ran with it. It’s just so Americana! Yet each rug has a bit of a different twist, making it unique & special. But they all have that common SWOOSH of the skates gliding on the ice – movement is key in the Hutch rugs!

 

Enjoy your winter! It’s a good time to create art, read, & rejuvenate!

 Kathy

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