The design revolutions of the early 20th century were woven into the very fabric of the carpets and rugs of that era. Carpets of the Art Deco Era, previously published as Art Deco and Modernist Carpets and now reissued in PLC, is the first in-depth history on the subject. It charts the evolution of carpet design out of the floral effusions of the Victorian salons and into the angular elegance of Art Deco and bold abstraction of Modernism popularized by the machine age. Such artists and designers as Picasso, Poiret, Gray, Delaunay, Matisse, Klee, and many more advanced the designs going on underfoot, making these rugs extremely collectible artworks in their own right. Generously sized and beautifully illustrated with over 250 colour photographs, here are Art Deco carpets at their most glorious.

A giant high-top sneaker embellished with golden scissors floats in a polka dot sky along with the surprising motto, "Run With Scissors." Hooked rug maker Jill Cooper explains, "The older I get, the more I don't follow 'the rules.' This rug was a way to share my belief that you must take every chance you can to enjoy all the beauty of life." Taking chances with hooked rugs -- those cozy accessories of hearth and home -- is just what members of Vermont's Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild do best. They tackle unconventional subjects, delight in using unheard of fibers, and love the challenge of designing their own contemporary work. At the same time, they are experts on "traditional" rugs and can replicate hooked pieces from the 1800s with uncanny precision. The guild's annual exhibit in 2006 featured more than 900 wonderful rugs, of which half are presented here and half in the companion volume. Feast your eyes on winners of the coveted Viewers' Choice Awards, rugs in Oriental designs, florals, abstracts, animals, architectural designs, and delicate miniature rugs smaller than a credit card. Rugs by one of the show's three honorees, Pat Merikallio, are featured here, as are rugs made by children, rugs illustrating "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and over 100 pieces depicting the theme "Strong Women." This book is a delightful, inspiring look at what can be accomplished with the versatile and exciting medium of hooked rugs.

Celebrates the earliest history of the Islamic world's great textile traditions through fifty beautiful carpets and fragments. A wave of these beautiful textiles has reached the West since the turn of the 21st century, and here they are divided into variants featuring birds, mammals, and mythological creatures, which retain their glowing colors and lively charm.

A giant high-top sneaker embellished with golden scissors floats in a polka dot sky along with the surprising motto, "Run With Scissors." Hooked rug maker Jill Cooper explains, "The older I get, the more I don't follow 'the rules.' This rug was a way to share my belief that you must take every chance you can to enjoy all the beauty of life." Taking chances with hooked rugs -- those cozy accessories of hearth and home -- is just what members of Vermont's Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild do best. They tackle unconventional subjects, delight in using unheard of fibers, and love the challenge of designing their own contemporary work. At the same time, they are experts on "traditional" rugs and can replicate hooked pieces from the 1800s with uncanny precision. The guild's annual exhibit in 2006 featured more than 900 wonderful rugs, of which half are presented here and half in the companion volume. Feast your eyes on winners of the coveted Viewers' Choice Awards, rugs in Oriental designs, florals, abstracts, animals, architectural designs, and delicate miniature rugs smaller than a credit card. Rugs by one of the show's three honorees, Pat Merikallio, are featured here, as are rugs made by children, rugs illustrating "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and over 100 pieces depicting the theme "Strong Women." This book is a delightful, inspiring look at what can be accomplished with the versatile and exciting medium of hooked rugs.

In New York, Jason Nazmiyal has a rug collection like no other. For the past three decades, interior designers and collectors have flocked to his Manhattan gallery to source art for the floor, be it a treasured antique classical carpet, an elegant Art Deco rug, or a Scandinavian minimalist piece. This book delves into the history of the handmade carpet across the world, before looking at the many ways rugs can be used to bring together interiors in a variety of styles. From a Mid-Century Modern residence to a contemporary urban sanctuary and a classic Upper East Side apartment, there is a rug for every space. With stunning interior photography and full of practical advice for the professional decorator as well as the amateur enthusiast, this publication is a useful and beautiful addition to the library of anyone with an interest in interior decoration.

"Extensive text, beautifully-written and well-researched, this book leads us through many historical and geographical adventures and towards a plethora of full-colour plates...These pages ground us by sharing a complex culture expressed through an object of practical simplicity." —Ptolemy Mann, Selvedge The Michael and Amy Rothberg Collection of knotted-pile tribal and nomadic bags and other rare small format pile weavings, among them many pieces made for women's dowries and other ceremonial functions, is recognised as the best of its kind anywhere in the world. The collection has been carefully and thoughtfully assembled over the past four decades. Michael Rothberg's collections are above all distinguished by the collector's acutely sensitive and perceptive eye for the best museum-quality material available on the international market. Specialists in the field and other collectors and tribal weaving enthusiasts have awaited the publication of this part of the Rothberg Collection for many years, ever since a selection of the material was shown at Sotheby's in Los Angeles in a feature exhibition during the American Conference on Oriental Rugs in January 1996. The scope of the collection includes antique pile bags, from the Transcaucasus region, as well as from the Shahsavan, Kurdish, Varamin region, Qashqa'i, Khamseh, Luri, Bakhtiari, Afshar and Baluch tribes of Iran.

In recent years, demand for kilims (flatwoven textiles) in the West has reached unprecedented levels. Kilim: The Complete Guide unravels the complex questions surrounding the origins and history of these unique flatweaves and of the peoples who make them. Hundreds of illustrations, many in colour and many specially taken, show them in all their glory. A detailed account of techniques - materials, dyes and dyeing, tools, kilim structures and weaving - is followed by a systematic analysis of motifs and symbolism. Here, the complex relationship between Islam and the animistic or shamanistic traditions that preceded it is explored. The core of the book is devoted to the specific characteristics of region, tribe and kilim type. Four major sections present much original research, fully informing the reader about kilims from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia; Anatolia; Persia and the Caucasus; and Afghanistan and Central Asia. Chapters on new kilims and the use of kilims as bags or trappings as well as rugs - together with a reference guide to collecting, care and further study, conclude what has become the standard work on this widely appealing subject.

Carpets from Islamic lands have been treasured for centuries on nearly every continent on earth. Prized by European monarchs and traded as far afield as Tibet and the Americas, these woven and knotted masterpieces are both distinguished works of art and revealing utilitarian objects that offer a rare glimpse of life in the Islamic world. Carpets from Islamic Lands features more than forty fine classical carpets held in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, along with several important pre-Islamic carpet fragments. Friedrich Spuhler describes this spectacular collection in the context of the history of Islamic art, recounting the carpets' fascinating stories and celebrating their intricate designs and masterful craftsmanship. Including pictures of many carpets never before reproduced in print, and a few that may have been lost forever following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this richly illustrated volume is essential reading for modern admirers of oriental carpets, and a treasure in its own right.

Carpets from Islamic lands have been treasured for centuries on nearly every continent on earth. Prized by European monarchs and traded as far afield as Tibet and the Americas, these woven and knotted masterpieces are both distinguished works of art and revealing utilitarian objects that offer a rare glimpse of life in the Islamic world. Carpets from Islamic Lands features more than forty fine classical carpets held in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, along with several important pre-Islamic carpet fragments. Friedrich Spuhler describes this spectacular collection in the context of the history of Islamic art, recounting the carpets' fascinating stories and celebrating their intricate designs and masterful craftsmanship. Including pictures of many carpets never before reproduced in print, and a few that may have been lost forever following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this richly illustrated volume is essential reading for modern admirers of oriental carpets, and a treasure in its own right.

This monumental reference work--long awaited by collectors and scholars--fills an essential gap in the available literature on oriental rugs. Lavishly illustrated with over 1000 photographs and drawings, it offers clear and precise definitions for the rug and textile terms in use across a broad swath of the globe--from Morocco to Turkey, Persia, the Caucasus region, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China. Covering priceless museum-quality rug traditions as well as modern centers of production, Oriental Rugs: An Illustrated Lexicon of Motifs, Materials, and Origins draws on classical scholarship as well as current terminology in use among producers and traders in these areas today. It focuses primarily on the vibrant hand-knotting and hand-weaving traditions of the Near East and Central Asia, but also includes some examples of Scandinavian and Native American weavings. Oriental rugs are receiving ever-increasing attention and recognition in the field of art history. Tribal weavings especially have become a focus for new research, and Oriental Rugs provides a new understanding of many distinctive traditions that were previously understudied, such as the weavings of southwest Persia, Baluchistan and Kurdistan. This concise oriental rug reference book is a must-have for scholars and anyone serious about collecting rugs, selling rugs or the rug trade in general. Additional reference information also includes: Foreign terms Place names The Oriental Rug lexicon Museums with notable rug collections Oriental rug internet sites

This volume, the second in the series to catalogue the Gallery's collection of decorative arts, mainly draws from the renowned collection of the Widener and Steele families. It focuses primarily on Chinese ceramics from the Qing period, including earthenware, stoneware, and polychrome porcelain. In addition, rugs and carpets from the collection of Peter A.B. Widener are catalogued and published here for the first time.

A spellbinding look at the history of the world through the stories of twelve carpets.

Beautiful, sensuous, and enigmatic, great carpets follow power. Emperors, shahs, sultans and samurai crave them as symbols of earthly domination. Shamans and priests desire them to evoke the spiritual realm. The world's 1% hunger after them as displays of extreme status. And yet these seductive objects are made by poor and illiterate weavers, using the most basic materials and crafts; hedgerow plants for dyes, fibres from domestic animals, and the millennia-old skills of interweaving warps, wefts and knots.

In Threads of Empire, Dorothy Armstrong tells the histories of some of the world's most fascinating carpets, exploring how these textiles came into being then were transformed as they moved across geography and time in the slipstream of the great. She shows why the world's powerful were drawn to them, but also asks what was happening in the weavers' lives, and how they were affected by events in the world outside their tent, village or workshop.

In its wide-ranging examination of these dazzling objects, from the 5th century BCE contents of the tombs of Scythian chieftains, to the carpets under the boots of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the 1945 Yalta Peace Conference, Threads of Empire uncovers a new, hitherto hidden past right beneath our feet.

The handmade rug industry has gone through a revolution in the last twenty-five years, and no one is better placed to explain how and why than Fritz Langauer and Ernst Swietly, who have been buying, making, collecting and writing about rugs for over fifty years. Rugs are now being made in colours and designs unimagined just a few decades ago. This new book is the only title available that shows how carpet making has changed in all traditional rug making nations as well as demonstrating through images of rugs in interior settings how the style and use of rugs has changed. Carpets carry many unspoken narratives about peoples and places - this new book reveals some of these for the first time thanks to the first-hand experience of the authors in the souks and bazars of the Middle East.

This book features the collector/author's well-informed views about a careful selection of mainly 19th century knotted pile carpets and flatwoven covers in various techniques from his own extensive collection, which has been built up over a period of more than five decades. Many of the rugs, which are all of the highest graphic and artistic quality, have been acquired without recourse to the open market and are therefore previously unseen and unpublished. Raoul (Mike) Tschebull's long experience in the genre allows insights that go beyond the conventional wisdom of the traditional antique oriental carpet bazaar. His collecting career began under the aegis of one of the great US collectors of a previous generation, Joseph V. McMullan. This beautifully illustrated book will include a general introduction to the region, which straddles the present-day border between north-western Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, setting the context for the focused presentation of some 70 examples, each with the author's comments about design, structure, technique and attribution, providing a matrix within which dating can be considered. In-country field experience colours some of his views, and extracts from his field notes and accompanying images will be included the book.

Carpets made in the "Rug Belt"-an area that includes Morocco, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and northern India-have been a source of fascination and collecting since the 13th century. This engaging and accessible book explores the history, design techniques, materials, craftsmanship, and socioeconomic contexts of these works, promoting a better understanding and appreciation of these frequently misunderstood pieces. Fifty-five examples of Islamic carpets are illustrated with new photographs and revealing details. The lively texts guide readers, teaching them "how to read" clues present in the carpets. Walter B. Denny situates these carpets within the cultural and social realm of their production, be it a nomadic encampment, a rural village, or an urban workshop. This is an essential guide for students, collectors, and professionals who want to understand the art of the Islamic carpet. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

This book fills a void in Western texts by presenting the largest selection of Caucasian flat-woven carpets and textiles ever included in a single book. They originate in the region south of the Caucasus Mountains and west of the Caspian Sea, bounded by Russian, Turkey, and Iran, and comprising parts of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The book, with 436 beautiful color photographs, includes an extensive selection of old kilims, zilis, khorjins, and one of the most extensive collections of Caucasian mafrash bedding bags ever assembled. They date generally from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Weaving styles of the nomadic, indigenous peoples produce the rich mixture of geometric and figurative forms recognized as uniquely Caucasian. A fascinating description of the author's field visits to villages in the Caucasus accompanies illustrations of the textiles and peoples found there. The origins of these pieces are discussed through comparisons with artifacts in the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg. A unique feature is weaving examples by two Georgian ethnic sub-groups, the Tushetians and the Khevsuretis. The result is invaluable information regarding the weaving origins of Caucasian flat-woven textiles for collectors and curators, and richly colored pictorials that will inspire designers and artists.

Authors Mary Anne Wise and Cheryl Conway-Daly detail the creation and the triumph of Multicolores, a rug-hooking cooperative in Guatemala. Rug Hooking serves as a template for how to start a non-profit business while working hand in hand with traditional artisans in developing nations. Through a compelling narrative, the authors describe how they built a business framework from within the local culture and created successful teaching strategies that encouraged both artistic advancement as well as personal growth - all the while establishing and maintaining their enterprise as a force in the global marketplace.

Every Persian carpet has a story to tell -- from the remote villages of Afghanistan and Iran, down the ancient trade routes traveled for centuries, to the bazaars of Tehran and the markets of the Western world. Carpet-making is one of this tumultuous region's few constants, an art form that transcends religious and political turmoil. Part travelogue and part exploration into the meaning and worth of these mystical artifacts, "The Root of Wild Madder" presents practical information about carpets while exploring the artistic, religious, and cultural complexities of these enigmatic lands.