News & Information on Antique Oriental Rugs and Persian Carpets

Interior designer Philip La Bossiere asserts, “I am not a beige guy in any sense of the word” in reference to both his colorful interiors and his exuberant personality. He has spent the past twenty-plus years cultivating his reputation as a sincere, hands-on decorator with timeless and unexpected design schemes. Always excited by Continental furniture, either at auction or abroad, La Bossiere prefers strong contrasts, rich color schemes, and a dash of the exotic. He was educated at Parsons School of Design, and in apprenticeship to renowned designer David Barrett, where he learned to execute designs that are timeless without ever feeling conservative.      read more…

Oriental Rugs and carpets have always appeared as just that – a cultural product of the East with all the exotic associations that this conjures up. Initially one thinks of the weavers themselves working over their looms in the cities and towns of Persia or Turkey, and then the journey of the carpets into the commercial emporia or bazaars of such countries. The wonderful late nineteenth-century painting by Jean-Leon Gerome, “The Rug Merchant,” captures this exotic bygone age rather effectively. Even today travelers to Persia and Turkey can still attest to the vitality of the rug markets in places like Tabriz, Konya, Izmir, and, of course, Istanbul. But truth be told, no place in the Middle East can claim to be the center or capital of the international rug market nowadays, at least not in the realm of antique pieces. This title must go to London and even more to New York. The immediate reason for this is the presence there of major International auction houses with highly developed rug departments. Houses of this kind exist in Europe as well, but even they would yield pride of place New York and London if pressed. Continue Reading »