Two Polar Bears on Ice Floes.
Silk or rayon stocking material, dyed; 28" x 39";
Mat maker unknown, ca. 1928. Design and pattern by Dr. Wilfred Grenfell.

Polar bears were a popular image. The bears travelled south from the Arctic on the heavy pack-ice, which eventually broke into smaller ice-pans or small icebergs called "growlers." They were usually pictured on these growlers in the mats. Early requests for cotton hooking materials specified white as the most desirous colour, as many mats depicted winter scenes with white furred animals.

Photo courtesy of Paula Laverty.