Peking carpet

During the decades preceding the World War II, several international firms wove rugs in China for the export market. These carpets were generally executed in the Art Deco style of the era and incorporated elements of ‘chinoiserie’ in an array of vibrant colors rather than in traditional Chinese designs, layout, and palette. This bold Chinese carpet is thus a bit of an outlier. Using a classic Chinese blue and ivory palette with a touch of green, bold vegetal tendrils in the style of imperial Ming carpets from the 15th and 16th century emanate from a central floral lotus rosette. This field is framed with a border derived from Chinese ‘Greek key’ fret design; a reduction of a classical Chinese border type from the 17th and 18th century. This rug displays a playful modern extrapolation based on traditional Chinese imperial models, while keeping the symmetry, proportions, and openness of the Deco era.