Central American Rugs and Carpets

An unusual quilt with sections that look like children's drawings.

78424 Antique Southwestern-Style Crystal-Inspired Kilim Rug, 02'05 x 03'05. Woven in the stylistic tradition shaped by the landscapes surrounding the Chuska Mountains, this antique S...

The “Court Series” rugs are hand tufted with blended wool and viscose material dyed in hyper-saturated colors, with tennis court-like geometries repre...

The “Court Series” rugs are hand tufted with blended wool and viscose material dyed in hyper-saturated colors, with tennis court-like geometries repre...

78310 Vintage Folk Art Ecuadorian tapestry with olga Fisch style, 01'11 x 02'09

In the vast range of Chinese carpets, all Chinese civilization is represented and in the elements that make up the design, all Chinese philosophy is represented, the religions with B...

77867 Vintage Southwestern-Style Eye Dazzler Kilim Rug, 02'09 x 03'11. Woven with meditative rhythm and bold intent, this vintage wool kilim from the mid-20th century captures the es...

This abstract rug is made by master weaver Roman Gutierrez in Oaxaca, Mexico. Yellow/ mustard, creamy white and brown/almond colors are portraited in this modern Zapotec rug...

78752 Antique Transitional Navajo-Style Kilim, 02'01 x 03'05. Transitional Navajo-style kilims, woven during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mark a period of cultural change ...

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...

The Rapture Collection is the exception to our hand-woven only rule. Woven Concepts purist philosophy focuses on the creation of hand-made, high-end rugs. The Rapture Collection rugs...

The “Court Series” rugs are hand-tufted with blended wool and viscose material dyed in hyper-saturated colors, with tennis court-like geometries repre...