For those of you who were not in New York in September and would not have seen the great rugs at concurrent events The Rug Show New York and the New York International Carpet Show we offer a chance to view some of what you missed. In the upcoming issue of COVER—which will be online next week—we review both of the rug exhibitions and select a handful of the excellent rugs that were displayed, but prior to the magazine’s release here are five designs that piqued our interest at The Rug Show New York at the Javits Center (10-13 Sept), which will be followed by a selection from NYICS.
The 2016 edition of the Rug Show was the largest to date, with 74 exhibitors filling a grand hall at the Javits. There was a great deal to look at and much to grab the attention of the visitors. One design we particularly liked was the striking Wassily Merlebleu by Tamarian, which had a mid-century feel to its colour palette and abstract design. Carpets from Berlin-based Rug Star by Jürgen Dahlmanns certainly stood out from crowd with their intense colours and bold motifs. Dahlmanns was keen to show off his new Rug Star Tuft project, which demonstrates what amazing designs the technique of tufting can produce—see COVER 45 for more on the Rug Star Tuft line. Rug Star will be launching the full collection in Domotex Hannover (14-17 January).
There were many people who marvelled at the new Kentenci Vintage collection on Turkish brand Ketentci‘s stand. The rugs had been made in Nepal and finished in Turkey, which had given them a wonderful soft, glowing, antique patina. The whole collection featured faded designs that disintegrated into the muted tones. Another collection with a focus on texture and patina was the Battilossi collection for Lapchi, designed by Maurizio Battilossi and represented by Lapchi in the US. The rugs are an investigation into surface and texture and are featured in the next issue of COVER.
The last rug we chose is Creative Touch‘s wonderfully expressive Coastal’s End design, which is based on a painting by Carol Benson-Cobb, an American abstract artist who works in Dallas, Texas. The wool and silk carpet manages to capture the energy of the painter in a simple but effective design.
All rugs we are sure will be enhancing beautiful interiors soon.
Wassily Merlebleu, Tamarian
Rug from the Ketenci Vintage Collection, Ketenci
Koi, Rug Star
Jean in Ice, Battilossi for Lapchi
Coastal’s End, design by Carol Benson-Cobb, Creative Touch
