Many interior designers begin their decorating schemes from the ground up with a carefully chosen carpet. Rugs on the floor and tapestries or wall hangings are an elegant, colourful way to add texture and warmth to a room, for settings both traditional or modern. The blend of colours in a well-designed rug allow multiple hues to be married together beautifully unifying a room’s overall design. There has been a markedly increased interest in both rugs and tapestries over the past few years, as home owners return to the classic country house mood and a layered look.
Visitors to the Winter Fair will find not only an inspiring selection of carpets and textiles with Decorative Fair dealers on the ground floor, but also the bonus of the London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair up on the mezzanine, with another group of specialist dealers in this exciting field.
A large green ground ushak supplied by Joshua Lumley Ltd (Instagram : @joshualumleyantiquerugs)
Joshua Lumley has exhibited at The Decorative Fair for many years and is a go-to supplier for many interior decorators of splendid Turkish ushak (or ‘oushak’) rugs and verdure tapestries, among the many other weavings he displays.
Here Josh introduces us to two stunning pieces he will have on his stand at the Winter Fair from 21-26 January 2025
An Ushak carpet, western Anatolia, circa 1880 287 x 220cm Joshua Lumley Ltd
Uşhak is a city in the interior part of the Aegean region of Turkey, and has been one of the most important rug making areas in Anatolia since at least the 16th century. Ushak rugs have been hugely sought after and prized in western Europe ever since – indeed the famous Holbein portrait of Henry VIII depicts the monarch standing proudly on an Ushak carpet.
In the second half of the 19th century, oriental carpets saw a surge in popularity in Europe and America, and production in Persia, Turkey and India increased to meet this demand. Carpets from Ushak were particularly popular, rivalling their Persian counterparts, with similar designs but with subtly different colour schemes.
Silky, luminous wool is a distinctive trait of an Ushak rug, and they are unique in both pattern and color palette; many of them have a dark ivory or golden backdrop highlighted by geometric or floral motifs. Their colours chimed with British interiors, and they found their way into country house drawing rooms from the home counties to the Scottish Highlands.
Their enduring appeal is a result of the effect that they have on a room. They seem immediately at home in a country house, and bring a cosy informality to an interior space.
This particular example has a wonderfully pale palette, with harmonious tones of coral pink, ivory and ice-blue. It also has a highly sought-after ‘all-over’ design, rather than a central motif or medallion.
Ushak rug featured in a room by Jamb London (Instagram: @jamb_london)
An Aubusson Verdure Tapestry, France, early 18th century, 256cm across x 273cm drop, Joshua Lumley Ltd
Aubusson, a town in the Creuse department of central France, has been an important centre of tapestry and rug weaving since the late 16th century, following the arrival of groups of Huguenot weavers from Flanders. Early examples tended to depict religious and historical subjects, but in the late 17th and first half of the 18th century, ‘verdure’ tapestries became very popular, with simple woodland scenes featuring birds, animals, rivers, lakes, chateaux and mountains.
These Verdure tapestries have endured as sought-after decorative wall coverings and have, over the last decade or so, increased further in demand as prominent interior designers have used them in their schemes for country houses.
The best examples, such as this particular piece, retain their deep, saturated tones of greens and blues and work very well with the bolder colour schemes that are fashionable today. They also offer a wonderful bridge between the indoors and outdoors, linking country house interiors with their surroundings. Furthermore this group of tapestries has a rustic and naive charm whereas other earlier and later tapestries can bring a formal atmosphere to an interior. This group, however, have the reverse effect!
Decorator Maz Rollit uses a tapestry from ceiling-to-floor in this hallway (Instagram: @max_rollit)
Dealers at The Decorative Fair with rugs and textiles:
Clive Rogers Oriental Rugs, stand F03
The Swedish Rug Company, stand E24
PLUS the dealers at LARTA The London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair, up on the mezzanine.
Image courtesy of Robert Kime Ltd (Instagram: @robertkime)
