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
CONSERVATION
It’s always interesting to learn about conservation or restoration. Restoring any antique is a specialized job and requires knowledge of the item, together with an understanding of the restoration process and as to what can and cannot be achieved. Lida Lavender brings her wide knowledge of the subject, to this field. She has a team of experienced restorers both in the USA and overseas and she knows where the best results will be obtained. During the process and depending on the extent of the repair, Lida will keep a close eye on the progress and her eye for detail, will
High – Low Combo Rugs
Let’s take a look at the increasingly popular high-low, high and low, high-low contrast, high-low monochrome, multiple level, multiple technique; lots of high-low carpets, and all attempt to be totally au courant. Depending on the material used they should be within a budget that would allow most people to include in their interior design. But this carpet is much more than a mere high-low textured piece. Here the look of the front is significantly driven by the look of the back. It really is not a bi-colored rug at all and this is partially, at least, the doing of the
