…A European fabric company with some beautiful patterns, worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead.

I find decorative arts of all kinds can have amazing power to re-shape, dislodge, and entirely shock my sense of time as an historical progression of the “old” leading to the “new”. The carpet above (shown in close-up) is a case in point. According to dealer Sandra Whitman it was made in China between 1723 and 1735. That means this very “new” looking carpet (replete with a simplified color palette, abstracted open field and streamlined border) was sitting in China decades before the U.S. Declaration of Independence or the French Revolution. That unwires my brain a bit.

I just spent too much time looking through almost every thumbnail, close-up and alternate view on Lapchi’s website, a company specializing in “handwoven carpets in silk and wool”. It’s almost impossible to get a real sense of the character, quality, or even the pattern of carpets through the computer screen but I do like Lapchi’s Palampore design, above. In the carmelian color shown it’s rich and romantic without being too traditional. In lighter colorways it has an almost Arts and Crafts feel, as if adapted from a William Morris pattern book.

I’m very interested in the historical pairing of non-Western (particularly “tribal”) art with contemporary interiors. It’s a match-up that’s been going on for quite awhile now and reaches back to the personal collections of Picasso and Matisse, the use of  the “primitive” in Art Deco, etc. The photo above appears within an article in Modern Magazine (Fall 2009) about Florence Knoll’s 1960′s interiors for the headquarters of CBS. Here we see the contemporary / tribal combination again, in this case with a framed textile serving as counterpoint to the sleek sofas and steel-framed tables that fill the space. I wonder how Knoll selected the piece and what it represented to her — I also wonder what the textile is exactly. Is it Indian? Is it a South American mola?

The website for Zena Kruzick Tribal Art features a diverse selection of non-Western textiles that includes this early 20th century “body cloth” from Nagaland India (detail shot above). The website also has a short bibliography of recommended textile-related books as well as a great long list of links to other tribal art dealers, sites I’ll be happily exploring in the days ahead.

Stripes by Paul Smith at Kvadrat go perfectly with rain in San Francisco.

The site is full of other contributing designers and can be easily navigated if you’re looking for a specific color, type of pattern, etc. In the U.S., fabrics featured on the site are sold through Maharam.

Alicia Keshishian describes herself as “fearless” when it comes to color and I think her “geology” rug (above) proves the point! It’s pretty hard to be timid in the face of something so bold. For more about Alicia’s carpet company click here.

120 years old and still looking fresh, Kasthall is a Swedish company that produces carpet for both wall-to-wall  for area carpets. They have some great textures and colors, like the woven Greta in “multi-dark” above. Plus, they’re working hard to be eco-friendly!

For more textile-related goodies from The New York Times check out this recent article on a current show at the Textile Museum in Prato Italy. The show is entitled “The Style of the Czar: Art and Fashion between Italy and Russia from the 14th to the 18th Century” .

Above, an Italian silk tapestry from the 16th century. I love the combination of the yellow green and the dark jade.

A lovely carpet in a lovely house, via “An Artful Clutter” in The New York Times. Carpet is from Antik.

Photograph by Tony Cenicola.