No room for waste: A look back at John Hinchcliffe's rag rugs

In an age of planned obsolescence and mass production it is perhaps difficult to remember a time, not so long ago, when every spare scrap of cloth and thread of wool was scrupulously saved and creatively cycled. The economic structure of cottage industry made this absolutely necessary for survival and the uses recycled materials were put to produced some fascinating results. Ragweaving is one that emerged as a significant form over two hundred years ago.

One of the first recorded uses of rag weaving was the production of bed sheets and coverlets (tatter weaving). These were produced in the rural areas of Sweden, as the house inventories compiled in the last decades of the eighteenth century can show. As with patchwork pieces, rags could provide an inexpensive source of material from which to make additional layers of warmth to guard against the fierce winters.

Rag weaving was first used as a floor covering in the form of mats and was combined with straw and bulrush. In Scandinavia such mats, of a simple striped design, became increasingly used from the beginning of the nineteenth century but were only brought out for uses on special occasions such as saints’ days. As the century progressed their popularity increased and by the 1850s they had become the accepted form of floor covering in most Scandinavian homes. These rag rugs often took the form of long striped runners placed one on top of the other in a criss-cross fashion, building up layers until nothing of the original floor covering could be seen.

The examples of rag rugs to be found in America, although executed in a tighter way that gives them a more precise finish, closely resemble those found in Scandinavia. It must not be forgotten that such weaving techniques were imported into America with the emigration of Scandinavians to that country in the nineteenth century. The practice of rag weaving in this country found its clearest expression in making of hearth rugs that provided a little extra warmth and comfort and they were often made by hooking rags through a readymade base. These rugs are much thicker than their Scandinavian counterparts.

The production of rag rugs and carpets is still continued as a domestic craft, mainly in countries such as Sweden, but rag weaving is by no means a purely European activity. Examples can be found in various parts of the world, in fact anywhere where the economic necessities have meant that there is no room for waste.

A young weaver who has devoted his time and energy to this activity and has produced some fascinating examples of it is John Hinchcliffe. He attended the Camberwell School of Art and then went on to the Royal College of Art. He now teaches parttime at Camberwell and lives in a tithe cottage in a village near Arundel; it is here that he does most of his weaving. John Hinchcliffe is attracted to rags because of the range of textures and effects they can give. The initial cheapness of rags as a raw material is soon forgotten as the actual preparation of the rags, the dyeing and cutting, is a lengthy process with a great amount of waste. Heaps and heaps of rags are scattered around his loom and as he works he picks pieces from these mounds and adds them to his weaving as they suggest new combinations of texture or colour. In this way some of his rugs acquire a random quality which creates liveliness and freedom of movement across their surfaces.

John Hinchcliffe uses two main techniques in weaving with rag, one free and loose and the other tight woven, with a greater emphasis on pattern. This technique has been used to produce his most recent rugs. The rag is so tightly packed that it is difficult to identify as rag and the colour is controlled and strictly defined in rectangular shapes that are repeated like elongated chess boards. In this way the rag is completely subjugated with the emphasis on pattern producing a crisp finish that relates it to Scandinavian methods of rag weaving. His earlier rugs have a shaggy appearance which reflects in colour and mood the countryside that surrounds his studio. Both techniques illustrate the richness and elasticity he has found in rag as a material for weaving. Rag has a quality of its own that has something to do with the way it is found, the way in which it is torn with frayed edges and the disjointed areas of print that already enrich the material. Dyeing it and recutting extends the process one step further, making rag an exciting medium in which to work. John Hinchcliffe has been able to capture some of this excitement in his rugs and they also have an added strength that comes from his full assimilation of the traditions behind this form of weaving.