Cave Horse Hooked Rug

I  finally complete this hooked Cave Horse rug which I designed last year. Cave art is a passion of mine and a trip to visit the Lascaux Cave in France is definitely on my bucket list. Unfortunately you can no longer enter this cave due to the damage caused by human respiration. They have actually gone to the trouble of recreating this site underground so that you can get some idea of what it would be like. Below is the original cave horse painting that inspired my rug.

I have always found Cave Art images to be a wonderful design resource for primitive hooked rugs. The subjects and their backgrounds such as the cave walls have wonderful shading, gradations of color and interesting shapes...the primitive cave animals and people are similar in shape and style to North American antique primitive rug motifs.

Antique Hooked Horse Rugs

I free hand drew my cave horse onto a long narrow scrap of rug backing that I had been saving for my smaller designs...this piece measures 27" by 15" inches. I used recycled hand-cut and hand-dyed wool which I married together in a big old pot so all the colors would blend nicely.

After having this rug sit around unfinished for so long...that when I finally got back to working on it I noticed a lot of hooking I didn't like...so I pulled out a bit and redid it...the original design actually had two black stripes around the edge. I like to engage the motif shape with the outer border...makes for more interesting negative shapes in my rugs.

 I finished the outer edge with a neutral colored tweed yarn which I doubled up twice to give me the needed thickness to whip-stitch the border. The colors are a little washed out in the photos...the rug is actually very warm and honey colored with lots of desert colored greens. I took the photos outside in the early morning so they are a bit over exposed. Over all I am quite happy with this rug...looking at it now I wish I would have made the horse a little less long, more fat and pot bellied like the original cave horse. Hopefully I will find a special place for it in our new home.

Cheerio, Susan