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. AUTHORS: Ernst Anton Swietly grew up in a family that had just one single carpet. It was rolled out only once a year, during the Christmas holidays, and on each 7 January, the carpet was rolled up and hidden behind a box until next Christmas. Since then, for Ernst, carpets have been a symbol of peaceful, warm, cosy family get-togethers. Later on, Ernst A. Swietly - a journalist for fifty years - travelled the carpet-producing countries of the world discovering the secrets of handmade weaving and their design principles. This is how he met Fritz Langauer, and they realised it was time to write a book on the carpet world of the 21st century. Fritz Langauer is the son of the businessman Friedrich Langauer who, with his cousin, Adolf Böhm, founded Adil Besim OHG immediately after the Second World. As one of the sons of the two founders, Fritz Langauer joined the company in 1957. With its five branches, a carpet laundry and repair workshop, it developed over the years to become one of the largest department stores in Europe. SELLING POINTS: * For the first time, a lavishly illustrated book shows how traditional handmade rugs and carpets have become vehicles for contemporary trends and used in interior design and home decoration * The authors' work in journalism and rug production over the last fifty years equips them with the experiences of the travel writer and the specialist knowledge of leaders in the global rug market * The developments in the weaving industry in India, Iran, Turkey, China, Turkmenistan, Morocco, Pakistan and Afghanistan are reviewed as well as the historical and cultural context for change in a book that shines a light on the contemporary rug market in the 21st century 350 colour and 20 b/w photographs

- How to create a variety of different design elements that can be combined to make all kinds of hooked rugs - A unique approach to rug design, emphasizing modular design elements--simple and complex shapes, motifs, and borders--that the reader can mix and match to create unique rug art - Advice for gathering inspiration from the world and translating it into a rug design - Includes step-by-step instructions for basic rug hooking techniques and expert advice on tools and materials

Rugs to Riches is an authoritative, lively, and eminently practical guide for people who want to learn the dos and don'ts of choosing handmade oriental rugs. Caroline Bosly, one of the foremost rug brokers in the world, describes the various types of rugs and their origins, explains the difference between buying new and antique rugs, and tells you how to buy a rug of any size at the best possible price. Written in a simple, straightforward style that strips away the mystique from oriental rugs, Rugs to Riches also advises you on: Determining whether a rug is handmade or not, and whether it has been altered in any way. Evaluating a rug's condition and determining whether the retail price is a fair one, using a simple point system. Bargaining down the price of a rug, no matter what type of store you find it in. Selling a rug and making a profit. Decorating with oriental rugs and ensuring that they remain clean and in good repair.

Now in its sixth year, Early Homes is a biannual special edition that focuses on the period 1690—1850 and it's revivals, including Colonial and Neoclassical design. Each issue contains lavish photos and plenty of product sources.

The classic guide to an enduring American craft gets an eye-catching revision. Fantastic to look at and easy to follow, this expanded version of The Braided Rug Book will win a new audience and also appeal to those who own the previous edition. It features thoroughly updated information, brand-new gallery images, two additional rug techniques to try, and a comprehensive primer on planning a project. Beginners will learn about wools and other materials, how to care for finished rugs, and how to recognize a quality rug. Plus, there are several new color plans and entirely new directions and illustrations for building a rug-braiding stand, complete with a finished photo.

This monumental reference work--long awaited by collectors and scholars--fills an important 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 rich 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

Through a close look at the history of the modernist hooked rug, this book raises important questions about the broader history of American modernism in the first half of the twentieth century. Although hooked rugs are not generally associated with the avant-garde, this study demonstrates that they were a significant part of the artistic production of many artists engaged in modernist experimentation. Cynthia Fowler discusses the efforts of Ralph Pearson and of Zoltan and Rosa Hecht to establish modernist hooked rug industries in the 1920s, uncovering a previously undocumented history. The book includes a consideration of the rural workers used to create the modernist narrative of the hooked rug, as cottage industries were established throughout the rural Northeast and South to serve the ever increasing demand for hooked rugs by urban consumers. Fowler closely examines institutional enterprises that highlighted and engaged the modernist hooked rugs, such as key exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1930s and '40s. This study reveals the fluidity of boundaries among art, craft and design, and the profound efforts of a devoted group of modernists to introduce the general public to the value of modern art.

The art of rug hooking, which consists of pulling dyed and cut wool fabric pieces through a backing, has typically been associated with New England, the South and Canada. Yet rugs from the American Midwest have contributed just as much to the development of the craft and its continuing popularity. The story of hooked rugs in the Midwest is a ragbag blending of romance, folklore, myth and common sense told through the colors of barns and sky, golden wheat, farm ponds, red clay, red brick, steel, glass and fountains. In this vividly illustrated history, Mary Collins Barile shakes out the dust from the Midwestern hooked rug with the vigor its unique blend of utility and imagination deserves.

Learn the art of designing and making a Nordic traditions rya rug. With this book, you can make authentic, heirloom-quality rya rugs without a loom or special equipment and enjoy them as art on the walls, floors, beds, and more. Ryas have a long history. In the days of the Vikings, ryas were woven on looms with a wool pile that gave warm insulation in the cold winters as warm cloaks on a freezing sea, sleigh blankets, and as bed coverings. After World War II, Nordic countries marketed their signature crafts around the world. They wove backings, spun hardy rya yarns, and designed kits easily made by beginners. These industries thrived throughout the midcentury modern era, but suddenly supplies became difficult to find when fashions trends changed. From the late 1970s to recent times, not only supplies, but experienced teachers were very hard to find. Melinda Purcell Byrd was born into a rya rug family. Her grandparents, Bill and Angelina Lundgren from Northboro, Massachusetts began importing Swedish rya supplies the year she was born. They established a thriving business by providing kits and custom designs in rya across the United States. Melinda designed and made her first when she was 11 years old. After college, she worked with her grandparents as designer, teacher, and business manager becoming proficient in all things rya. After fashions trends changed, Lundgren Rya, along with dozens of other suppliers in the USA and Europe closed their doors.Thirty years later Byrd has used her experience and the Internet to revive rya rug making and provide a resource for currently available supplies as well as teach how to use them. In her book, history of how this craft began, thrived, and was nearly lost is shared. She demystifies the designing process and gives detailed examples of various designing techniques for right-brained and left-brained thinkers. You'll find personal story profiles of other rya pilgrims, innovators, and visionaries to inspire you. Full of colorful illustrative photos by award-winning photographer, Ken Koons, this book will move you to join the rya rug revival and make your own rya rugs!