Sumak More Carpets

This is an old Shirvan Kilim from the Caucasus region with a rare and beautiful color composition. Of the four countries that make up the Caucasus, Azerbaijan produces the most kilims, and the land has a long history of weaving. The nomadic tribes wove kilims and carpets as well as a wide range of storage bags and sacks, such as saffrash, khurgin and chula, and donkey and horse trappings. Smaller bags...

This beige needlepoint Aubusson rug is a high-quality item, getting most of the attention in the rug store by clients because of the elegant c...

The inspiration for this collection comes from 16th century Indian carpet weavers, who created the most beautiful carpets for the Royal Courts of the Mogul Emperors. Based on authent...

This unique small Kohtan carpet was woven by hand in the 1900s. Khotan rugs were created in East Turkestan in an area that is now Western China. Khotan was once a desert oasis on the silk road and produced bold rugs known for their circular medallions. This piece features a blue circular medallion woven with tribal motifs. This is then surrounded by a symmetrical surrounding design and border. Both the color palette and design in this wool rug is sure to make the perfect accent accessory for any room in your home.  The raw materials used are of the finest quality, with only the best hand-spun wool and cotton which have been dyed with organic dyeing techniques and delicately woven on looms to create this elegant piece. Constructed with a traditional hand-knotting technique which has been used for generations due to the durable rugs the technique produces.  Place this piece in a cosy Classic interior or a sophisticated modern style for an instant uplift. This fine wool rug can be used as a bedroom rug, living room rug or entranceway rug. This piece is in excellent condition, clean and ready for use in any home or office environment. Rust handmade carpet Kohtan rug...

A vintage Chinese Art Deco room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 9' 2" x 11' 9" Chinese Rugs & Carpet: The craft of the hand-knotted carpet in China, and the surrounding areas including Mongolia and Tibet, extends into the early centuries of the first millennium, C.E., but we really have a firm grasp only beginning in the later 16th century with large, very coarsely woven carpets, often depicting dragons, created for the Imperial Forbidden City palaces. Chinese carpets have always been commercial and there are no tribal groups responsible for any of the carpet weaving strains. When the Ming Dynasty fell in 1644, with no Imperial patrons, production moved to the city of Ningxia in north central China where several workshops turned out more finely woven pieces for the Mandarins of the administrative Ch’ing bureaucracy and well-to-do merchants. Ningxia was the major Chinese carpet center up through most of the 19th century, with first allover and then medallion designs on cotton foundations in medium weaves. Palettes were initially limited to yellows, dark blue and cream, but later widened to include reds, browns and even green. These antiques were the first Chinese carpets to be exported to the West and they fitted in well with the craze for Chinese blue-and-white porcelain in the second half of the 19th century. Ningxia also wove shaped and rectangular small rugs for saddle underlays, chair (“throne”) seats and shaped backs, pillar carpets with dragons or monks for Buddhist monasteries, and long divided runners for monastery meditation halls. These small rugs are among the most collectible of all Chinese weavings. Weavers from Ningxia set up workshops in the capital Peking (Beijing) in the 1860’s and began weaving Western room sizes for export, primarily to America. In blue – and – white and polychrome palettes, with round wreath medallions, precious objects, seasonal flowers, paeonies, lotuses, fretwork, clouds, butterflies and bats, all relatively spaciously drawn. The round “Shou” (Good Luck) character is also a prominent decorative motif. There are also a few Peking landscape pictorials with pagodas, houses, bridges, waterscapes and boats. Peking carpets were woven right up until WWII and production began again after the Cultural Revolution around 1970. They are moderately well-woven, on cotton foundations, exactingly executed and indisputably Chinese. Many are in the blue-and-white style. Nothing else looks like a Peking carpet and for a Chinese “look” in a room, they are absolutely indispensable. Sizes range from scatters and a few runners, through the popular 9’12’ size, to large carpets over 20’ which must have been special orders. The earliest Peking Revival carpets are pliable and fairly thin, but they became heavier and more compact in the 20th century, in competition with Art Deco carpets from Tientsin. The modern, post- 1970, pieces are in the traditional Peking style, but are a little too regular and neat. Exactitude has been favored over character, as hard to explain that as it is. There are a number of all-silk and silk-and –metal thread pieces, many with inscriptions purporting to link them with rooms in the Imperial palaces, bringing very substantial auction prices, but none are really antique. The genre emerged after WWI and the present demand comes from mainland Chinese. The silk piles often stand in pattern relief against flat woven gold metal thread grounds. The inscriptions are apocryphal, the rugs are flashily opulent, perfect for nouveaux riches. The Art Deco period between the two World Wars saw a distinctive carpet industry developing in Tientsin (Tianjin) in northeastern China. These are highly prized for their transitional design character, neither overtly Chinese, nor abstractly modern/contemporary. Woven exclusively for export, usually by and for American firms, such as Nichols and Elbrook, they are totally in the “Jazz Age Modern” style of the 1920’s, often without borders, with abstract or abstracted patterns, and only with, at best, a few Chinese-y pattern elements. Vases asymmetrically placed in the corners are features of some of the more Chinese-y carpets. Open fields with floral sprays and branches growing in from the edges are anther design innovation. Often, Chinese motives have been re-imagined in more sharp-edged, abstract manners. Some have no references whatsoever to natural elements. The patterns are sharp and the rugs are never subdued, soft or restrained. The rugs are heavily constructed, with crisp, unfading dyes and medium to medium coarse weaves on cotton foundations. All are extremely well-executed, with none of the vagaries, variations or twists found on even high-quality Persian rugs. The majority are in the 9’ by 12’ format and a surprising number can be found in top condition. There also was a substantial production in Peking from, especially from the Fette factory. Elliptical and round carpets, and lighter, often pastel colors, were a specialty. Nothing looks like an Art Deco Chinese and they work well with traditional Chinese furniture and the most modern decor as well. These is no substitute for a good Chinese Art Deco carpet. Chinese carpets also include small scatters from Tibet, with high quality wool, floating dragons and allover textile patterns. The colors of vintage and modern pieces are bright, but there are antique small rugs...

A vintage Chinese Art Deco accent carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 6' 0" x 8' 10".

Authentic Antique Caucasian Shirvan rug Geometric Blue 3'3" x 4'6" 3x5 99cm x 137cm Circa 1890 "This is a Antique Caucasian Shirvan rug. This piece was acquired fr...

Beautiful Chinese Art Deco rug with nice design and white field color, entirely hand knotted with wool velvet on cotton foundation.

This elegant handmade carpet was constructed in the 1990s in China. The central design has been woven on a pink field with peach, purple and green accent colours that make up the flo...

These handmade carpet wool rugs have airy and fiery elements that are grounded by splashing waves and jutting peaks that provide a sense of balance and tradition. Borrowing from the new and the old, this palatial Chinese carpet Oriental rug showcases a formal dragon medallion with traditional symbols and design elements that are depicted in a fresh, creative manner. Mauves and bright azures on the red rug inject the traditional palette of soft camel brown and clear blue with vivid ‘Art Deco...

This is an Antique Soumak ( Sumak, Sumac ) Kilim from the Caucasus region with a rare and beautiful color composition. Of the four countries that make up the Caucasus, Azerbaijan produces the most kilims, and the land has a long history of weaving. The nomadic tribes wove kilims and carpets as well as a wide range of storage bags and sacks, such as saffrash, khurgin and chula, and donkey and horse trappings. Smaller bags for salt, utensils, and other items are also common. Not only are the Azerbaijani weavers prolific, but they also employ many techniques at the loom. These include slitweave- known locally by the word Kilim, warp-faced patterning (jajim), supplementary weft (zili), weft wrapping (popularly known as soumak), and extra weft wrapping (verneh). Furthermore, flatweaves are defined by regional names such as palas and shadda, so it is possible to ascribe a variety of weaving names to particular provenances as follows: soumaks are made in Kuba, palas, and kilims in Hajikabul, zili in Khizy, verneh and zili in Kazakh, shadda, verneh and zili in Barda, jajim in Agjabedi, and palas and kilims in Jabrail. Soumak weave is a technique in which weft threads are added to a plain weave fabric, and one or two warp threads are wound from the front to the back. The resulting Kilim is denser and firmer, giving it a unique feel and look. This technique is commonly used in the Caucasus region. Soumak kilims have a very beautiful contrast between orange that shines like the sun, deep purple-tinged indigo, and astringent dark red. You can also see the unevenly dyed abrage in this Soumak, which is like a magic carpet with an oriental atmosphere. Features of the Caucasian Kilim, such as the unique cosmic geometric floral pattern, are also found in this Soumak which has a bright look, but it also has a faded and textured feel, so it can be used in a good old atmosphere. The woven fabric is particularly solid, so it is recommended for use in a solid living room or under a dining table without moving or twisting. A nice Kilim under a long wooden dining table.

A vintage Chinese Art Deco room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 9' 1" x 11' 9".