Modern Turkish Flatweave Rug
Size: 9’11 x 13’7 Modern flatweaves, here just wefts and warps, have continued vintage traditions, working in full-width bands, but with simplified and softened tones, and let abrash (semi-intentional color variation) create ripples, water or sand effects. Aerial perspective is suggested by varying the band width. Hemp (a vegetal cellulosic fibre) takes dyes differently from wool (animal protein fibre). The absorption effects are particularly important in such a carpet as this, where the divisions
The Beauty of Serapi Carpets
The Beauty of Serapi Carpets As perpetually fashionable as they are collectible, traditional Heriz luxury handmade rugs are skillfully woven in vibrant colors and emphatic geometric designs. Serapi carpets are a quality designation for Heriz pieces of a firmer weave, shorter pile and finer quality. There is no village of Serapi among the thirty-odd towns in the Heriz weaving district. The simplicity and striking character of these carpets, along with their basic two-dimensional flat patterning and primary colors has made then almost like room sized Kazaks and they have always been popular in the company of Caucasian scatter rugs. The
Ikat Design Rugs
Ikat Design Charcoal and Gray Zoe Rose Hi Lo Collection This carpet, which can be ordered in custom sizes, is even more interesting than it looks! First, consider the high-low effect. Not just any high-low, but a ridged granularity following the warps. While the vast majority of old and new carpets knot on every warp, this unusual type leaves a center warp free between pairs of knots. We can see this clearly on the back where pairs of knots cover four warps, but leave one continuous column uncovered. This results in a broad ribbing effect on the front, perpendicular to
Oriental Carpets and Absolutely Current, Up-to-the-minute Design Trends
Here at Lavender Oriental Carpets we are always aware of the most au courant trends in interior design and how oriental rugs, especially ours, can help advance them. Thus we begin a blog post series commenting on recently published interiors employing oriental rugs with our pieces instead of the illustrated examples. Open and modern, clean and uncluttered, reduced to the essentials. A recent article in Elle Décor shows off a modernist Mexican villa with lots of glass and plentiful wood accents everywhere. In the living room copious light brown neutral wood accents are splashed with colorful scarlet chairs. Simplicity reigns.
Nothing Says “Traditional” (or almost) as an Oriental Carpet
Nothing says “traditional” (or almost) as an oriental carpet. Traditional rooms are always visually busy and all too often clutter is the next stage. There is a constant combat, a look at me first, of the furniture and objects. This centrifugal effect needs to be reversed. Nothing unifies better than a room sized carpet. In a recent House Beautiful spread of a suburban Maryland dwelling, we find a living room perfectly integrated by a softly toned late 19th century Tabriz in a huge semi-repeating medallion design in hues of rust, navy, pistachio and beige. The carpet fills the room and
Arts & Crafts-Art Deco-Nouveau Rugs
Donegal Gallery Carpet 6.3 x 14.11 Sort of an Irish Oushak with a slate blue ground displaying a repeat of semi-geometric buds and flowers along with sawtooth medallions. Unlike other Donegal’s, there is nothing Celtic about this unique carpet. The palette is a variant on blue and white, but not oriental. The narrow borders just barely constrain the dynamic field which pushes underneath in all directions. The spacious layout makes the carpet seem larger than it is. The Arts and Crafts movement originated in England in the second half of the 19th century as a reaction against mass-produced machine-made goods.
Going for Baroque?
French Baroque Silk Damask Textile 2.1 by 5.2 17th Century Going for Baroque? Everything is dramatic. Think Caravaggesque paintings. Sculpturesque carved furniture. Everything is designed to impress. This textile, originally a section of a longer bolt, displays more than one repeat of a bold, complex cartouche and acanthus pattern in yellow-ochre and raspberry-red. The twisting foliage makes it three dimensional. What a great wall piece! You don’t have to be fluent in art history or in the language of period decoration to appreciate this eye-catching object. It is a full loom width and in good condition. And the furnishing context can
Feeling Like A VIP?
Bakhtiari Khan Carpet 11.10 by 18.2 Early 20th Century Feeling like a VIP? Like a person of importance? Maybe this mansion-size antique Persian carpet with a white field and an inscription indicating it was woven in the early 20th century for an oil-rich tribal ruler is for you. The cypresses and vase at the lower end usher one into a spring garden (on your estate?). Out of the vase and from thin flanking plants a verdant array of spring flowers explodes upwards in a directional pattern. Saturated greens yellows reds and blues detail the dense scatter fill of floral devices.
Bigger is Better
Aubusson Mansion Size Carpet 19.7 x 48.0 Bigger is better. How big? This 19th century French tapestry weave carpet is an elegant necessity for the grandest of salons. Of course, you have one. The design is cleverly adapted from 18th century carpets, generally more square in format. The burgundy red retains its original chatoyance and the secondary tones are appropriately mellow. Try it with something not French frou-frou furniture, something hard edged, something heavy metal. It works. Now this is a special rug! Clearly it was a special commission when new. The room for it must have been 25 x
Gabbeh Rugs
Gabbeh rugs in colorful, totally abstract styles, are a recent innovation and one of the best things to happen to the oriental rug in a long time. What can be bolder than a plain orange diamond medallion set on an equally undecorated slate reserve, further set within abrashed red triangular corners? How informal and yet how rigorous in the best design sense. ‘Gabbeh’ mean ‘unclipped’ and antique Persian tribal examples have a shaggy pile in natural sheep wool tones, but modern pieces are more compact with shorter, erect piles. These pieces are totally abstract and value impact over ornament. The
