Ruth Ewan: 'I will eat the shuttle ere I reveal the secrets of the craft'

In 2012, Ruth Ewan was selected to design a rug as part of Carpets of Distinction. This partnership was a collection of new works curated by arts organisation Panel and made by seven contemporary artists in collaboration with Dovecot Master Weaver Jonathan Cleaver. Ewan’s design was inspired by the weavers’ strike in Glasgow’s Calton district in 1787. Feline heads bearing shuttles between their teeth feature on Calton’s coat of arms, referring to an ancient vow supposedly made by weavers: ‘I will eat the shuttle ere I reveal the secrets of the craft’.