She was lauded as an exceptional painter. Now a new exhibition highlights something entirely different: rag rugs.
Tullie House in Carlisle is hosting Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs. Revealing another side to Nicholson’s artistic practice, this show focuses on tufted rag rugs (also known as hooky rugs or proggy mats). Made from fabric scraps and old clothing, rag rugs were once commonplace, a solution to heating chilly stone floors. As the art was dying out, Nicholson worked with friends, family and a group of female makers from a rural farming community near Hadrian’s Wall in Cumberland to keep this practice alive.
Showcasing paintings, archival material and 28 rag rugs (many of which are being shown in public for the first time), the exhibition celebrates Nicholson’s work and pays homage to the local Cumbrian makers with whom she worked to produce the rugs.
Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs runs from April 5 to June 15, 2025. For more information, click here.
Main image: Animal Squares 1960s, Winifred Nicholson, Florence Williams
Ben Nicholson, Birch Craig, Summer c.1930 (left), oil on canvas. Private Collection on loan to the Middlesbrough Collection at MIMA. Ben Nicholson, Cumberland House, 1920s (right), wood and paint. Private Collection on loan to the Middlesbrough Collection at MIMA. Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs, MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, 2024. Photo: Rachel Deakin.
