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This summer, the Hub presents Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs, a touring exhibition devoted to the pioneering rag rug works of celebrated British artist Winifred Nicholson (1893–1981). This exhibition highlights a lesser-known aspect of Nicholson’s creative output – her revival of the northern English tradition of rag rug making – and explores the enduring relationship between fine art, craft, and domestic life.

The exhibition presents many rare, beautiful and fragile examples of Nicholson’s rugs, the majority of which are held in private collections and have not been seen in public until now.

Curated in partnership with art historian Jovan Nicholson, grandson of Winifred Nicholson, the exhibition offers a unique insight into Nicholson’s artistic practice and relationship to her home in Cumbria. The show focuses on Nicholson’s revival of the rag rug making tradition in the 1960s and 70s when the artist, along with her family and friends, created rug designs. While the exhibition celebrates Nicholson’s reputation as one of the best-loved British artists of the 20^th century, it also pays homage to the local Cumbrian makers whom Nicholson worked with to produce the rugs, many of whom have been traced by Jovan Nicholson and are named in the exhibition.

Nicholson’s interest in rag rug making was sparked in the 1920s after moving to Bankshead, her farmhouse near Hadrian’s Wall in Cumbria. There, she learned the craft from neighbour Margaret Warwick. Rag rugs, also known as ‘hooky rugs’ or ‘proggy mats’, were hardwearing rugs popular in the mining villages and rural cottages of the north of England in the early 20^th century.

Providing cheap and warm floor coverings, the rugs were handmade from rags of second-hand clothing and textiles, cut into strips and occasionally dyed bright colours. The fabric was pushed or pulled through a hessian backing using a tool, a ‘proddy’, to make a rug.

In the 1960s and early 1970s Nicholson worked with local makers and designers to produce over 100 rugs, some of which were designed by her, and some by her grandchildren, grandnieces and her close friend Li Yuan-chia, an artist who led the LYC Museum & Art Gallery, a converted Bankside farmhouse in the village of Banks, Cumbria, from 1972-1983.

Comprising rag rugs and archival material, the exhibition showcases another side to Nicholson’s artistic practice, predominantly known as a painter, highlighting the interplay between art and craft and the place for both in domestic life. It features 24 artworks, with the earliest pieces on display dating from the 1920s. Archival materials, including sketches, newspaper cuttings, and postcards, offer a behind-the-scenes look at Nicholson’s process and inspirations.

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