Art Deco Chinese and East Asian Rugs

An early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a rare and wonderful lime green background surrounded by a wide cranberry border, and all overlaid with myriad auspicious flowers incl...

A Tibetan Tiger rug, hand knotted in Nepal, silk and wool pile. This traditional Tiger rug design is typically found on antique rugs called Khaden. It describes a small sized rug of...

A vintage Chinese Art Deco throw rug handmade during the mid-20th century with a pictorial design of a dragon in black, blue, red, goldenrod, and light blue-grey over a cream-white borderless field. Measures: 1' 3" x 1' 6" 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...

This Rug is in excellent condition with high pile throughout the rug, cleaned and no stained, the ends and bindings of the rug are intact as original and there has not been any repai...

Beautiful antique Art Deco Chinese hand-knotted wool rug with a blue field. This Chinese rug has a red frame, multi-color accents in a gorgeous all-over Chinese floral design. Th...

Discover the rich history of Antique Peking Rugs, a tradition that found its roots in China shortly after the conclusion of the First World War. During this era, Chinese rug weaving ...

A vintage Chinese Art Deco accent rug handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 4' 3" x 6' 11".

This Rug is in excellent condition with high pile throughout the rug, cleaned and no stained, the ends and bindings of the rug are intact as original and there has not been any repai...

A striking early 20th-century Chinese Art Deco oval rug, woven with a rich and symbolic design. At its heart, a gracefully arching cherry blossom tree emerges from scholar’s rocks, i...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 9'3" x 11'8" - 282 x 356 )

Nice little Chinese beijing rug with beautiful Chinese Art Deco design and beautiful colors with blue, entirely hand knotted with wool velvet on cotton foundation.

During the Art Deco period many designers commissioned their patterns to the city looms located in Tianjin through companies such as Nichols & Company. Some designs, such as this one...

77629 Antique Chinese Art Deco Rug Inspired by Walter Nichols 09'00 x 11'09. An exquisite expression of early 20th-century grandeur, this hand-knotted w...

78991 Antique Green Chinese Art Deco Oval Rug, 02'07 x 04'05. This exquisite hand-knotted wool antique Chinese Art Deco rug is a captivating example of the elegance and craftsmanship...

A wonderful early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a cranberry field surrounded by a thin light indigo, wide dark indigo, and an outer thin cranberry stripe border. The field i...

Full pile large Chinese Art Deco rug plum border, blue field Measures: 10' x 19'1".

This is an authentic handmade rug. It was made in China around the 1940s. The overall color pallet is ivory over. The materials are wool pile with cotton foundation. The colors are f...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 8' 10" x 11'6" - 270 x 350 )

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet 8' x 9'6" - 244 x 290

The old gold field displays a low vase with spreading flowers at one end, grapes and grape leaves at the other, paeony groups at each side, all framed by a green border with more gra...

Handsome vintage wool 8’8” x 11’4.5” handmade Chinese Art Deco rug in a gorgeous soft taupe ground with a cranberry or magenta border and jewel tone Art...

78317 Antique Chinese Art Deco Rug, 09'00 x 11'09. This hand knotted wool antique Chinese Art Deco rug features a color-blocked field and border scheme festooned with large, glorious sprays of flowers. Lotuses, peonies, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms elegantly spread across the composition, breaking across the borders and field, creating a sense of splendor and vitality than cannot be contained. The colorful, intricate floral motifs showcase lotuses, peonies, chrysanthemums, and plum flowers blossoming in a swirl of tantalizing vinery. This ensemble of flowers, when appearing together, represents the Four Seasons, while each of the flowers carries...

An antique Peking rug originating from China circa 1920-1930. Hand-knotted wool, the 8x9 rug exhibits exemplary Chinese Deco sensibilities with a pervasive p...

A luminous Chinese Art Deco rug from the 1920s–30s, hand-knotted with a striking palette of deep indigo, lavender, and soft blush. A bold rectangular navy field anchors the design, s...

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

An antique Chinese Art Deco room size carpet handmade during the early 20th century. Measures: 10' 1" x 14' 10"

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 9' x 11' 4'' - 275 x 345 cm )

This 20th century Chinese carpet is unusual because it is an nearly square and it is monochromatic. The subtle sculpted border features a fretwork and bat pattern...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Rug ( 5' x 6'9" - 152 x 205 )

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 9'6" x 13'2" - 290 x 402 )

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet by Nichols Workshop 8'9" x 11' 6" - 295 x 350

An early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a violet central field surrounded by a wide brown border flanked by a thin inner indigo border, and a thin outer violet border, and wi...

An unusual early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a fuchsia ground surrounded by an unusually patterned border containing several floral cartouches alternating with puffs of bi...

An exquisite early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a rusty orange central field surrounded by a wide sage green border. Myriad auspicious flowers like chrysanthemums, peonies ...

Vintage/Antique handmade Art Deco Chinese carpet, perfect natural dyed Blue background color. c-1940, traditionally floral Design on two corners, rectangular shape. In excellent cond...

Title: Timeless Elegance: A Handmade Art Deco Chinese Wool Carpet from the 1920s Introduction: Step into a world of exquisite craftsman...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 8'8" x 11'6" - 264 x 348 cm )

Hand knotted in wool, a 10x14 Chinese art deco style rug inspired by rare period pieces of the 1920s Nichols style. On the Design: The design boasts an eccentric open field from ...

21679 Antique Chinese Art Deco Rug, 06'01 x 08'09. Chinese Art Deco rugs originated in China during the 1920s and 1930s, reflecting the bold geometric patterns, vibrant colors, and l...

Fine Art Deco period Chinese rug with a gold yellow base, border, vegetal and dragon. Hand- knocked wool on a cotton base. Art Deco period around 1930.

Antique Chinese Art Deco rug with burgundy color and 10'0" x 14'8" size.

A beautiful early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a brilliant fuchsia field surrounded by a border with large-scale chrystanthemum flowers amidst a tightly woven scrolling vin...

A beautiful early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with mint green field with a basket filled with multi-colored peonies in the center.

31332 New Modern Chinese Art Deco Pictorial Rug, 08'09 x 11'09. Emulating maximalist style with opulent detail work and lavish texture, this hand-knotted wool modern Chinese Art Deco...

Hand-knotted in wool, an antique 9x12 Chinese Art Deco rug joining Rug & Kilim’s repertoire of coveted 1920s masterpieces. This interpretation of the classic style enjoys a brilliant...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 8'3'' x 9'7'' - 252 x 292 )

Vintage Chinese Peking Runner Art Deco 2'5" x 10'7" 74cm x 323cm "This is a very unique vintage Art Deco peking rug. It has beautiful rare colorway. This p...

This early 20th-century Chinese Art Deco rug exudes timeless elegance and symbolic beauty. The cream central field creates a luminous, serene backdrop, while the wide indigo border g...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet Made by Nichols Workshop (7'10" x 9'6"-240 x 290 )

A pagoda, arched bridge and gazebo float in on medium blue watery clouds from one side of the light green field while a gnarled flowering prunus (plum) branch snakes in from one corn...

30552, new contemporary Chinese Art Deco rug inspired by Walter Nichols. Channeling the famed Walter Nichols style of the 1920s and ...

A whimsical early 20th century Chinese Art Deco rug with a peaceful garden landscape depicting a flowering tree branch with a lantern hanging over the corner of a pond with blossomin...

This mid-20th century Chinese Art Deco rug, measuring 8' 2" x 9' 8", features a striking emerald green field adorned with an intricate floral composition. A lush arrangement of peoni...

Chinese Art Deco Botanic Rug Circa: 1940 Size: 7'6" × 10'0" (228 × 304 cm) Age: Vintage Color: Beige, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow Origin: China This exquisite rug is part of the div...

Hand knotted in wool, a 6x9 Chinese art deco style rug inspired by rare period pieces of the 1920s Nichols style. On the Design: This rug recaptures the Chinese Art Deco rug styl...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet 10' x 15'5"

Antique Handmade Art Deco Chinese carpet, c-1920's,3' x 4'10". Woven with natural dyed soft wool pile, in green and rust/brown background color and traditional floral design, this ca...

From the unusual style is recognized this beautiful Chinese carpet of the Art Deco period in bright colors and rather unusual. On the salmon pink background there is a cascade of flo...

1920s Chinese Art Deco Carpet ( 9' x 11'6" - 275 x 350 )

:: Predominantly open field with expressive oversized floral sprays in highly intricate detail. Colors and shades include: Emerald green, ivory, blush, wine red, saffron yellow, and more. Condition notes: Mostly even short pile across. Most of the original side cord selvages are intact or restored. Fully secured sides and ends. Recently professionally cleaned ready for in-home use! Many years of enjoyment to come with this hand knotted Chinese Nichols Art Deco carpet...