rag rug reprise

You know what it’s like. You think you’ve made a great discovery, only to find you’ve just skimmed the surface of phenomenon much bigger than you imagined.

[Lu Mason, 2023]

It’s not surprising where rag rugs are concerned, as they’ve been around for a long time. But, as I said in my rag rug newsletter of 26 Feb, they have been unjustly overlooked (partly because they rarely made it into textile collections), and even though now is the perfect time for a renewal of interest in this craft with its excellent recycling credentials, a rag rug revival hasn’t really taken off. Yet when you think about all the mending and darning that’s been going on recently, rag rugs are a natural progression from this, a way of using irreparable clothes and textiles.

So I’d almost got to thinking that I wouldn’t find much more of interest. But I persisted, and have come across a whole lot of great rug stuff. Some historical, some contemporary, and some extremely inspirational.

[des. Winifred Nicholson - panther cub with border designs of birds and flowers]

It’s interesting that rag rug making can get buried in stories of so-called higher forms of art and craft (a lot of commentators do like art and craft hierarchies - probably those who have never made much themselves). I discovered that Winifred Nicholson, one of my all-time favourite painters, supervised the design and making of more than 180 rag rugs, but how often does this detail come into her story (let alone into that of her husband, Ben Nicholson, who also dabbled in rag rug design)?

From 1960 Winifred Nicholson was based in Banks Head, the old Cumbrian farmhouse she had owned since 1924. It was here that she helped to revive the local ‘hookie’ rag rug making tradition with contemporary designs after Nancy Powell, the local Liberal agent, felt that local makers still had the traditional rug-making skills but had ‘lost their design sense’ (maybe they had gone all Swingin’ Sixties?), and asked Winifred to provide the designs. (The two rug makers who executed the majority of her designs were Miss Florence Williams and Mrs Davidson.)

[Circular rug c1970 in Sainsbury Centre, des. W Nicholson]

Her rug designs are a mixture of folk art and colour blending, cheerful, bright, and actually surprisingly traditional.

[‘Lucie Weaving [sic] a Rug’ c1960 by John Aldridge]

In Great Bardfield, Lucie Aldridge - always described as ‘the first wife of painter John Aldridge’ (who had an affair with Tirzah Ravilious, perhaps when he knew his wife would be hooking or prodding) though I bet he was never introduced as ‘the husband of rug-maker Lucie Aldridge’ - made and exhibited rugs (nb cats feature in them).

[‘Meconopsis’, Emma Tennant]

But back to Winifred Nicholson, who does appear to be the grandmother of modern British rag rugs. Botanical artist and rag rug maker, Emma Tennant grew up in the Scottish Borders and was directly inspired by Winifred Nicholson and her rugs. Emma has been rag-rugging for years; her style is simple, clear and pictorial. Many feature flowers (irises, auriculas, tulips) or domestic subjects (hens, walls, gates). Her book Rag Rugs of England and America (1992) is a brilliant potted history of, and introduction to, rag rugs and contains lots of inspirational examples and a dose of realism. “These rug makers were not trained in anything except patience…It occupied long winter evenings of rural isolation, offered a chance to earn some money , or to immortalise the family cat”. (Soooo many cats in rag rugs.)

[Rosie in the Airing Cupboard’, 1989, Louisa Creed]

Speaking of which, Louisa Creed is another important name connected to WN who was her aunt. She is the daughter of EQ Nicholson and Christopher ‘Kit’ Nicholson, the son of William Nicholson and Mabel Pryde. (Nancy and EQ had a textile business and EQ also designed rugs.) Her painterly rugs often contain animals, but she is also skilled translator of complex landscapes. (Rylett Press will publish her book, My Rag Life, in June this year.)

I found all this out via several books including Lynne Stein’s and by talking to people. But, as ever, the internet is a treasure trove, especially for contemporary rugs.

[North of the Taw]

Rebecca Holley’s largely abstract hooked textiles, inspired by OS maps of SW England are taking the craft in new artistic directions.

And, as I said before, Lu Mason’s rugs are just brilliant (see 26 Feb). I love her naïve designs based on fair isle jumpers and big, bold, fairground style lettering, her glorious sense of colour and pattern, and the sheer jolly cheerfulness of her work.

Kaffe Fassett has some very Kaffe rugs (shells, leaves, pots, mosaic - above) in several of his older books. I nearly dropped my cup of tea when I read that he started his beautiful but complex roses rug - proper rug size 95x150cm - ‘just before Christmas and finished it seven days later’. Sorry, pardon, what?

And my top new discovery is Vita Cochran, a NZ artist who lives in Sydney.

There are some great photos of people at her 2019 exhibition standing, in tights and socks, on her rugs. It’s daring but absolutely right show them on the floor so you can see them from above and from different angles, and appreciate through your feet their tactile appeal, warmth, comfort and bounciness.

[‘Seated Odalisque with left knee bent . . . (after HM)’, 2019-20, Vita Cochran]

[Vita Cochran - even the back of her work is amazing]

She brings a refined artistic sensibility, lively imagination, and superb craft skills to the humble rag rug (and many other creative projects). Inspired by C20 domestic crafts in NZ - as illustrated in the wonderful book Thrift to Fantasy (2005) by Rosemary McLeod - she uses old woollen garments to interpret paintings and objects in new ways. Her palette is rich and deep, and each inclusion is carefully chosen.

I’m smitten by the world of rag rugs which gets bigger every time I trace a new lead or maker. All I need now is just need a few kilos of old textiles in my favourite colours and seven clear days…

Happy Sunday!