The Friends of Beamish Museum.A Super Present for Christmas or Birthday?
From Rags to Riches
North Country Rag Rugs
The Beamish Collections
Rosemary E. Allan
Bodgy, Broddy, Clippy, Clooty ?
Bodgy, broddy, clippy, clooty, hooky, proggy, proddy, peggy, stobby, tabby……all are the names for those wonderful creations, that in the North Country, are known as rag mats, though in other areas are recognised as rag rugs!
The Beamish Collection
The Beamish Collection of Rag Rugs is probably one of the largest in any museum in the British Isles. Gathered together from all over the North of England, the collection includes some 250 examples of proggy, hooky, lamb's lug and braided rugs, dating from c.1897 to the present day.
A New Art form
They represent a folk art which nearly died out completely in the 1970s, but, largely due to a fresh interest in the craft together with an urgent need to recycle society's waste materials, this splendid old craft, born out of necessity, has been transformed into a new art form, reflecting the spirit of a new age.
History of the Craft in the British Isles and the Social Background
The book summarises the history of the craft in the British Isles and looks at the social background in which the rugs were made. This is vividly illustrated through old photographs and memories of the people who made them, in the colliery villages, the towns and in the rural farmhouses of the North of England. Instructions are given for making the different types of rugs and there is also information on the tools and designs used.
Making 'Rags into Riches'
The rugs have been beautifully photographed and will inspire the reader to 'get matting' and enjoy the very activity of making 'rags into riches'.
Rosemary E. Allan is Senior Keeper at Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum. She has been responsible for building up and researching the collection since 1970.
Book Details
64 PAGES
Full colour throughout
290 x 225mm (11.5ins x 9ins)
Paperback
ISBN 0-905054-12-1
Price £9.50
Publication September 2007
Available from Beamish Shop and also online @
www.beamishcollections.co.uk