Outstanding colour palette on this near pristine 28' early French Catalogne Rug. Exceptional condition with minimal wear as shown. Great as a runner, stair runner or made into smaller area rugs. Rare to find in this condition. Possibly never used. Purchased direct from collector in Quebec so very good provenance.
The catalogne is a French-Canadian rag textile with roots in France and development in Quebec. Popularized in the 1800s, it takes its name from the 17th-century Sieur de Catalan. Initially, this weaving technique was a necessity in Quebec due to the scarcity of new cloth, later becoming a staple in Madawaska County, NB, Aroostook County, Maine, and Ontario [1, 2, 3, 4]. The technique uses a cotton warp and combines it with recycled rags—often old clothes and tapestries cut into strips—to create durable, typically striped, functional fabrics.
