7th Oct, 2025 10:00
Modern and Contemporary Art
42
▲ Lucie Aldridge (1889-1974) and John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
A rag rug
64 x 102cm,
together with a John Aldridge pencil sketch of Lucie weaving a rug, with artist's studio stamp
23.5 x 18cm (2)
John Aldridge first met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London during the early 1930s. Lucie, a trained artist from the Heatherley School of Fine Art, had established a successful dressmaking studio before the couple relocated in 1933 to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield.
There, they became integral members of the celebrated artistic community led by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, alongside their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood. This informal but influential circle helped define the character of British art in the mid-20th century.
John and Lucie married in 1940, shortly before his wartime service. During his absence, Lucie was joined at Place House by her sister Agnes and their nanny, Ninnie, who remained with her for three years. It was Ninnie who introduced Lucie to the craft of hooked rug weaving- a skill Lucie would elevate into a distinctive and expressive art form.
As Olive Cook observed, Lucie 'transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form' (quoted in Robjn Cantus, 'Before and After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus', Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176).
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Great Bardfield - including a single owner collection from a house in Great Bardfield
Browse the selection of lots in our 'Great Bardfield' category, featured in our 7 October 'Modern and Contemporary Art' auction.
£500 - £700
Buyer's premium: 30.00% (inclusive of VAT, where applicable)
Artist's Resale Right may apply to this lot
Condition Report
Framed: 39 x 34cm
Light time staining with some small scattered brown spots. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
The rug may benefit from a gentle clean. There is a hole in the hessian in the centre of one of the ends.
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Auction: Modern and Contemporary Art, 7th Oct, 2025
Viewing
London Viewing | Highlights
A selection of lots will be on view Tuesday 9 - Friday 26 September at our London Gallery, 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ, as follows:
Monday-Friday, 11am - 5.30pm
Saturday - Closed
Sunday - Closed
For more information, please contact 0203 971 2500 | london@sworder.co.uk
Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 3 October, 10am - 5pm
Sunday 5 October, 10am - 1pm
Monday 6 October, 10am - 5pm
All lots are, however, extensively illustrated and carry detailed condition reports - see 'Condition report' at the foot of each lot description.
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
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