May
07
2008
Antique Kilims have had their ups and downs in the rug market. Once upon a time they were considered unfit for export. More a utilitarian item of daily life than a folk craft practiced for commercial profit, kilims had always been intended for domestic use rather than sale in foreign lands. The few fragmentary pieces that arrived in the West were used as wrappings to bail pile rugs. But as Westerners interested in Oriental rugs began to travel more in Turkey and the Caucasus, kilims gradually became known to collectors in Europe and America, and eventually they came to be appreciated for the masterpieces of village weaving that they are. Though produced in a simpler flatwoven tapestry technique, antique kilims represent an impressive rage of designs from the very small to the monumental (nos. 699, 3402, and 489). For sheer graphic force and quality of color, nothing can beat a good antique Turkish or Anatolian kilim. The only antique pile rugs that achieved such effects are the most sought after types of Caucasian Kazaks or the best Turkish village rugs (41428). Continue Reading »
Popularity: 9% [?]
Oct
09
2007
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 »
Popularity: 37% [?]
Oct
04
2007
A Subtle Play of Opposites
From a relatively early time in the Ottoman period, the town of Oushak in westernTurkey has been a major center of rug production. Many of the great masterpieces of early Turkish carpet weaving from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries have been attributed to this center. The great star and medallion Oushak carpets of the late fifteenth to seventeenth century were made there, and it is even possible that the various carpets of the so-called “Holbein” type of family were products of Oushak as well. To say the very least, Oushak has a major claim to a long and distinguished tradition of rug weaving which has continued right up into modern times.
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Popularity: 27% [?]
Jun
28
2007
This week Nazmiyal opened its elegant new Manhattan gallery. Situated at 31 East 32nd Street on the second floor, the new location has over five thousand square feet of continuous, looming space that makes it possible to display beautiful room-size and oversize rugs and carpets in the setting that they deserve. The space is bathed in natural light as well as abundant track lighting, with elegant hardwood floors that stretch for over eighty five feet. Read more …
Popularity: 23% [?]
May
15
2007
Written by Betsy Murphy
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
The annual meeting of the International Conference on Oriental Carpets is always an exciting event, but when it is held in Istanbul, one of the most exotic and romantic cities in Europe, and a center of carpet production and commerce for the past five hundred years or more, ICOC is simply “carpet heaven.” I stayed in the lovely Sultanahment district, the oldest part of the Ottoman city, where there were a number of related exhibitions. The TIEM (Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi) mounted a spectacular show of early carpets from the Seljuk period, as well as various other oversize court carpets, Ushaks, etc. It was simply divine. The TIEM also put up an amazing selection of Ikats from the collection of Mehmet Cetinkaya. The Vakiflar Museum had two exhibitions of their incredible collection of early rugs as well, one on pile carpets, and one just for kilims. In conjunction with all this the Yildiz Palace held a memorial exhibition of kilims from the personal collection of the renowned expert Josephine Powell, who passed away last March.
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Popularity: 28% [?]
Apr
25
2007
One of the most familiar labels applied to Oriental rugs and carpets, antique and new alike, is the term “tribal.” The label evokes a range of associations, most of which suggest something romantically antithetical to our modern western civilized or urban existence. Tribal rugs were or are presumably made by people with a tribal social organization, very likely nomads dwelling in tents, moving from place to place with the herds of sheep and goats that provided the wool for therugs. Such rugs are thought to be woven in designs that have been handed down faithfully in tribal tradition with little or no change for generations beyond recall. Read the full article, What is a Tribal or Nomadic Rug?
Popularity: 23% [?]
Apr
02
2007
In the last decade or so, the production of new rugs has experienced a renaissance of sorts. The quality of their weave, wool, and design has not been as good since the early decades of the twentieth century. One of the unforeseen benefits of this new trend has been the revival of a particular genre of new production that may be distinguished from the rest - the ‘Modern’ or ‘Contemporary’ design rug. The roots of contemporary design vary considerably. They may be traced most of all to the first carpets made in a Modernist style, the Art Deco carpets of Europe, America, and China made between the late twenties and the fifties. Read the full article, About Contemporary Oriental Rugs & Carpets.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Mar
27
2007
For much of the twentieth century the interest in Oriental rugs and carpets has come increasingly to focus on the concept of the antique rug as the standard of excellence, and there are certainly good reasons for this. The influence of western dye and machine spinning technologies, along with the enormous new demand for oriental rugs that developed from the late nineteenth century onward, all contributed to a rapid decrease in quality in terms of the materials, the weave, and the designs. By the nineteen thirties it was easy to tell the difference between rugs made up to about World War One, and those made after. Read the full article, About New Oriental Rugs & Carpets.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Mar
21
2007
Having worked with designers for over twenty years, I can really appreciate what makes Amy Lau so special and distinctive. I wanted to start our “Designer Spotlight” with Amy because of her wonderful sensitivity to color and its role within the design process. The impression of simplicity that she achieves in putting a room together is remarkable. Read the full article, A Conversation with Amy Lau from Forms of Design.
Popularity: 13% [?]
