Stone More Carpets

A vintage American Braided oval room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 9' 5" x 12' 3" North American has never developed a unified handmade rug tradition, but rather it is the unassimilated confluence of several. From Mexico comes the Saltillo serape wearing blanket, and this stimulates the Navajo and Rio Grande (Colorado) weavers, first as blankets, then as rugs. The thrifty habits of rural America gave rise to the New England (and Western Canadian) hooked rug types, while the farmers of the Midwest recycled their disused garments into braided and rag rugs. The closest to a real ongoing tradition are the Southwestern (New Mexican) Navajo rugs. By the 1860’s the native tribes were weaving wearing blankets with wool from the Spanish churro sheep. These were in stripe design, with combinations of undyed wool with cochineal reds and indigo blues. The multi-phase “Chief’s Blankets” from the 1870’s-80’s are a natural outgrowth of these. Machine spun red wool from Germantown in Pennsylvania appeared in the 1870’s with a bright red hitherto unobtainable. The weavers loved it and blankets appeared with bright reds, generally aniline, in “eye dazzler” patterns. Anglo traders established posts beginning in the 1890’s. Navajo weavings were perfect accompaniments not only for Western-themed decors, but for East Coast apartments, only they needed to be thicker and more rug like to be truly accepted. The traders brought Caucasian and Turkish village rugs to copy, borders were introduced and central medallions devised. The weavers continued to create on vertical looms, with a shared warp (dovetailing) weft structure to avoid slits. The warps were cotton string. Sizes were generally scatters, but occasionally a special order came in, hence antique room size Navajos are very rare and very pricey. Distinct village/pueblo styles developed. Among the best are: Two Grey Hills (considered the tightest, closest of all Navajo weaving), Crystal Springs and Ganado. Certain new patterns such as the “Storm pattern” with jagged lightning bolts emanating from a dark cloud developed. The Yei rug with dancing Kachina doll figures became popular. The palette has been expanded beyond the classic grey, tan, dark brown and cream natural wool combination to again include reds, blue and greens. Navajo pictorials include: American flags, trains and automobiles, domestic and local scenes and scenery. Individual artist weavers now command gallery shows and correspondingly elevated prices. There are several levels of Navajo work, and antique and vintage scatters with simple flat designs, medium weaves and tritonal palettes, and in good floor worthy condition are still available reasonably. The Native American weaving tradition extends into Colorado with two piece scatters with sharp sawtooth medallions and striped end borders, with wool tapestry weave on cotton warps. These descend from the Saltillo blankets...

A vintage American Braid round/circular accent rug handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 7' 1" x 7' 1".

A leader of the cross-cultural Craft resurgence, Japan-based artist Toyoharu Kii creates his intricate mosaics with handcut Italian marble and smalti, Venetian glass made by the same Italian family for over 400 years. Using traditional Italian techniques, Kii’s art is nonetheless modern. It is monochromatic, abstract, and highly textured and highlights the involved and technical art...

In the present work small handcut tiles of pure white Carrara marble are the background of this interesting contemporary mosaic which represents one of the most celebrated landmark in Florence. The facade of the church of Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit), designed and built by Brunelleschi, is created with precious beige-colored Botticino marble tiles and surrounded by a frame of small black glass glazed paste tiles. Carrara and Botticino are among the most famous Tuscan marbles that’s why the local mosaic artist and craftswoman- who creates this superb work of art- decided that the mosaic featuring the most important symbol of Florence should be made of these materials. To make the composition more interesting, two different types of Carrara marble were used: the statuary white marble is matte and the white Carrara marble called "zuccherino" (sugary) is more sparkling. The random alternation of these two marbles give a pleasant vivid and three-dimensional effect to the entire mosaic tile. Each small rectangular and squared tesserae are hand cutted and each one of these mosaic is one of a kind. The mosaic plaque has a wood panel as support and the tile is housed in hand painted giltwood frame. The tile on sale and immediately available now is 15x15 cm and reproduces the church of Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit)- as you can see in the main image- but many other mosaic with the most important symbols and monuments of Florence are available as the Old Bridge, Santa Maria Novella, Florence's Cathedral with the Brunelleschi's dome or the Lily symbol of the city and so on, as showed in the photos. These white and black marble mosaic tiles...

78610 Vintage South American Kilim Rug, 06'06 x 06'03. Emulating precolumbian art with incredible detail and texture, this handwoven wool vintage Sout...

A vintage American Braid carpet from the mid-20th century.

77849 Vintage Mexican blanket with Mayan Aztec Figure, 02'06 x 04'09. With its expressive design, incredible detail and texture, this handwoven wool vintage Mexican blanket is a captivating vision of woven beauty. The abrashed field features a Mayan Aztec human figure in the center Whether placed on the floor or hung on the wall as a tapestry, this vintage Mexican serape...

A vintage American Rag rug in throw/scatter size handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 3' 3" x 6' 5".

Antique American Hooked rug featuring colorful pictorial village scene, rug s12-0806, country of origin / type: United States / Hooked, circa 1920 This American Hooked rug depicts...

A vintage American Braid carpet from the mid-20th century.

This handmade decorative tile panel combines the traditional Portuguese faience tile making techniques with a modern approach of shapes and color, resulting in a very visually impact...

Mid-Century Modern mosaic tableau wall piece. Abstract design of a figure in mosaic marble, shades of browns and greys. Sturdy wooden frame.