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Maker
Peter Collingwood
b. 1922, London
d. 2008
Brief biography
Peter Collingwood (1922 –2008) is widely recognised as one of the world’s most important weavers. A teacher, scholar and significant collector of culturally and historically important textiles, his work is held in museum collections globally. His innovative, elegant Macrogauze wall hangings represent a key chapter in a celebrated career.
Whilst working in Jordan as a surgeon with the Red Cross, Collingwood began collecting Bedouin textiles in order to understand their making and structure, constructing his own loom on which to teach himself. On his return to the UK, he retrained with the celebrated weaver Ethel Mairet in Ditchling, followed by work with Barbara Sawyer in London and Alistair Morton at Edinburgh Weavers.
In 1953, Collingwood set up his own studio in Archway, London, where his rugs and other works were acquired by leading design outlets and galleries including Liberty, Heals, and Primavera Gallery. He attracted a burgeoning following from figures including potter Lucie Rie, architect Frederick Gibberd, furniture designer Robin Day, and Jack Pritchard of Isokon. In 1958, after being invited to live and work at Digswell House, a set of residential studios in Hertfordshire, he undertook major commissions for clients such as Gordon Russell, and for the modern interiors of Shell Tower and New Zealand House.
Collingwood’s international recognition grew following an invitation to lecture in the United States in 1962, leading to annual trips and an increased demand for his work abroad. In 1968, he published The Techniques of Rug Weaving, which has remained in print ever since, becoming known as the ‘hand weaver’s bible’. Collingwood pioneered the processes of ‘shaft-switching’, ‘sprang’ and ‘ply-splitting’. ‘All along my weaving has depended on finding and exploiting new techniques’.
Text courtesy of Simon Alderson. Written for the the Peter Collingwood exhibition at Margaret Howell, 2025, curated by Simon Alderson.
Whilst working in Jordan as a surgeon with the Red Cross, Collingwood began collecting Bedouin textiles in order to understand their making and structure, constructing his own loom on which to teach himself. On his return to the UK, he retrained with the celebrated weaver Ethel Mairet in Ditchling, followed by work with Barbara Sawyer in London and Alistair Morton at Edinburgh Weavers.
In 1953, Collingwood set up his own studio in Archway, London, where his rugs and other works were acquired by leading design outlets and galleries including Liberty, Heals, and Primavera Gallery. He attracted a burgeoning following from figures including potter Lucie Rie, architect Frederick Gibberd, furniture designer Robin Day, and Jack Pritchard of Isokon. In 1958, after being invited to live and work at Digswell House, a set of residential studios in Hertfordshire, he undertook major commissions for clients such as Gordon Russell, and for the modern interiors of Shell Tower and New Zealand House.
Collingwood’s international recognition grew following an invitation to lecture in the United States in 1962, leading to annual trips and an increased demand for his work abroad. In 1968, he published The Techniques of Rug Weaving, which has remained in print ever since, becoming known as the ‘hand weaver’s bible’. Collingwood pioneered the processes of ‘shaft-switching’, ‘sprang’ and ‘ply-splitting’. ‘All along my weaving has depended on finding and exploiting new techniques’.
Text courtesy of Simon Alderson. Written for the the Peter Collingwood exhibition at Margaret Howell, 2025, curated by Simon Alderson.
Education & training
1942-46 St Mary's Hospital Medical School
1938-42 Epsom College
1938-42 Epsom College
Public collections
Christchurch, New Zealand, McDonald Art Gallery 1984
Denmark, Copenhagen Kunstindustrimuseums 1975
New York, USA, Cooper Hewitt Museum 1975
Norway, Oslo Kunstindustrimuseums 1975
Philadelphia USA, Philadelphia Museum of Art 1974
Denmark, Copenhagen Kunstindustrimuseums 1975
New York, USA, Cooper Hewitt Museum 1975
Norway, Oslo Kunstindustrimuseums 1975
Philadelphia USA, Philadelphia Museum of Art 1974
Publications
www.petercollingwood.co.uk
Peter Collingwood, The Techniques of Rug Weaving, Faber and Faber, 1968
The Techniques of Sprang, Faber and Faber, 1974; Design Books 1999
The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Robin and Russ, 1992
The Maker's Hand, A Close Look at Textile Structures, Ib Bellew,1987
Rug Weaving Techniques, beyond the Basics, Ib Bellew, 1990
The Techniques of Ply-Split Braiding, Ib Bellew, 1999
Peter Collingwood, The Techniques of Rug Weaving, Faber and Faber, 1968
The Techniques of Sprang, Faber and Faber, 1974; Design Books 1999
The Techniques of Tablet Weaving, Robin and Russ, 1992
The Maker's Hand, A Close Look at Textile Structures, Ib Bellew,1987
Rug Weaving Techniques, beyond the Basics, Ib Bellew, 1990
The Techniques of Ply-Split Braiding, Ib Bellew, 1999
