Claremont Rug Company
The only Oriental rug company ever honored as Robb Report’s “Best of the Best.”
"One of the world’s best sources of antique carpets." – Financial Times
Antique Oriental Art Carpets
1-800-441-1332   |   Int'l +1-510-654-0816   |   Login / Wish List Call Us
Skip to content
  • Home
  • View Our Inventory
  • Shopping With Us
  • Education
  • Press
  • Clients’ Homes
  • Contact
Educational Center / Decorating With Antique Rugs / A Guide to Decorating with Antique Oriental Carpets (Part 2)

Decorating With Antique Rugs

A Guide to Decorating with Antique Oriental Carpets (Part 2)

By Jan David Winitz, President & founder 
Claremont Rug Company

Part 2 of 2 Parts  |  Read Part 1 Here 

Spacious desert home with antique Bakshaish Camelhair carpet and Mid-Century Modern furnishings.

Antique Oriental rugs can play a myriad of roles in enlivening and harmonizing a décor, and in Part One, I presented numerous ways to successfully incorporate them into the various spaces of a home. Here, I will demonstrate through anecdotal experiences how the great variety of antique rugs styles available means anyone can identify carpets that will enrich the ambiance they envision for their decor.

A question I’m often asked is: “How will antique rugs—a handcrafted artifact created on the other side of the world a hundred or more years ago—fit into a modern home decorated with a collection of contemporary paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture?” Many people erroneously think that older Oriental carpets are compatible only with traditional settings, such as historical homes furnished with antiques or neoclassical decors.

19th century Bakshaish medallion carpet enhances contemporary architecture and whimsical décor.

Yet, fine antique Persian, Caucasian and Turkish rugs are an art form that remains remarkably timely and never goes out of style. Infinitely versatile, they work as great unifiers in the home, bringing together disparate elements of a décor. Created as superbly harmonious compositions in their own right, they have the ability to integrate the settings in which they are placed. 

With client after client for over four decades, I have experienced art-quality Oriental rugs to be extremely versatile, adding depth and an individual character to a great diversity of environments. They provide both a decorative foundation to a room and embody age-old principles of harmony and balance.

Left: Antique palace size Kermanshah in historical home. Right: Palace size Manchester Kashan and Roy Lichtenstein painting.  
Palace size Sultanabad in sunroom in contemporary home. 

For example, over a 30-year period, I had the privilege to work on a grand contemporary home in Piedmont, California for three different owners. In its first incarnation, our clients furnished the house with exquisite floral Persian Kashan and Ferahan carpets. The second clients opted for graphic Persian village Serapi carpets and Caucasian tribal rugs, and the third homeowners chose high-decorative Persian Sultanabad rugs with stylized floral designs and subtle colors. The house accommodated each makeover beautifully because the carpets expressed the owner’s taste and sensibilities. 

Contemporary, Mid-Century Modern, or Minimalist decors benefit exponentially from the presence of antique carpets, luxurious, soft textiles that complement the natural wood and stone hard surfaces in a home while reflecting the quality of the materials and workmanship of the custom environment.

Client after client have discovered that the spare graphics and abstract imagery of 19th-century Caucasian tribal rugs and Persian village carpets such as Bakshaishs, Serapis, Herizs, and Camelhairs work brilliantly with contemporary art. These styles have proven to be extremely complementary with the abstraction and asymmetry found in the work of such 20th century avant-garde masters as Klee and Kandinsky. 

Left: Caucasian Gubpa Shirvan in modern apartment. Right: Antique Persian tribal trappings on display in Tuscan-inspired home.

Well-chosen antique carpets can balance eclectic decors seamlessly. One client assembled a pre-Columbian artifact collection, a Napoleonic mantle and Deco-inspired chairs with a mid-19th century geometric Bakshaish carpet possessing a spacious elemental design that effectively grounded the various components. Another client intriguingly combined an oversize Persian Malayer undyed camelhair carpet featuring a series of angular medallions on a latticework field with a Chinese screen, a painting by Miro, and a Ming-style glass coffee table, all beneath a panoramic view of the San Francisco skyline. 

Left: Antique Sultanabad providing a compatible foundation for modern furniture and artwork. Right: Antique Bakshaish area rug in Mediterranean inspired home. 

Longtime art collectors were elated to see that Persian floral rugs are profoundly collaborative with the large Lichtenstein painting in the living room of their contemporary Midwest apartment and selected an extremely curvilinear, salmon-ground palace size Persian Manchester Kashan to grace the floor beneath it. The juxtaposition of the two is brilliant. Another client chose a classical Persian Hadji Jallili Tabriz carpet of rare corals as an exciting juxtaposition to her four contemporary abstract paintings.

The bottom line is that the great majority of art-level antique rugs will enrich virtually any environment. There is no absolute template to follow. Very likely if a particular antique carpet speaks to your aesthetic, it will share the overall mood of other decorative aspects of your home. There are numerous ways to approach designing with antique Oriental carpets, varying from when a house is still in the design stage to an empty, pre-existing home to when the furniture and artwork are already in the owner’s possession to after the home has been fully furnished.

Many clients start by selecting rugs for one or two rooms and then come to discover that other spaces of their home feel “empty” or “cold” in comparison. Some prefer to work with one or two styles of rugs to unify the entire house, while others opt for each room having its own individual character. Wherever you find yourself to be on the spectrum between these two approaches, rest assured that choosing and living with harmonious, art-level Oriental rugs woven 100 to 200 years ago by people who had created works of balance and harmony for millennia will afford you tremendous long-term satisfaction. 

Circa 1850 Sultanabad with rare celadon field in art collector’s contemporary condo.

  • A Guide to Decorating with Antique Oriental Carpets (Part 1)
  • A Guide to Decorating with Antique Oriental Carpets (Part 2)
  • The Allure of Antique Persian Camelhair Carpets
  • The Allure of Antique Persian Camelhair Carpets
  • Claremont Rug Company Orchestrates the Marriage of Antique Oriental Rugs, Fine Art and Furniture (Part 2)
  • Claremont Rug Company Orchestrates the Marriage of Antique Oriental Rugs, Fine Art and Furniture (Part 1)
  • Subtle Elegance – Exquisite Art Carpets in Understated Tones
  • Antique Rugs in Eclectic Interior Design
  • View Client Interiors
  • What Makes Our Rugs Different
  • Antique Rugs in Art Collections (Chubb Collectors)
  • Hanging Antique Rugs as Wall Art
  • Interactive Catalogs
  • Antique Oversize Carpets
  • Antique Palace Size Rugs
  • Contemporary Residences are the Perfect Palette for Antique Persian Rugs

SHOPPING WITH US

  • Visit Our Gracious Galleries
  • Directions to Our Gallery Complex
  • Concierge Services
  • In-home Shopping
  • Request Photos & Rugs on Approval

OUR NICHE

  • Oriental Rug Market Pyramid
  • View Our Clients’ Rooms
  • Jan David Winitz, President
  • Long Term Exchange Policy

VISIT US

  • Claremont Rug Company
  • 6087 Claremont Avenue
  • Oakland, CA 94618 U.S.A.
  • info@claremontrug.com
  • 1-800-441-1332
  • Int’l +1-510-654-0816
  • Mon-Fri 10:00am - 5:30pm Pacific Time
  • Saturdays by private appointment
  • View Map

Get The Latest From
CLAREMONT RUG COMPANY

back to top
© 2022 Claremont Rug Company 6087 Claremont Ave. Oakland, CA 94618 U.S.A. Privacy Text-Only Gallery Today is July 1, 2022
Claremont Rug Company
Register for claremontrug.com

Not Registered Yet?

Claremont Rug Company is an internationally recognized source for art-level antique carpets for stunning home decoration and collection. Our online Gallery offers an extensive sampling of our vast, world-class inventory, tailored towards finding the perfect rugs for your interest. Register today to discover the many resources we offer:

  • Create in-depth wish lists to keep track of the rugs that interest you.
  • Add notes and rate rugs for future reference.
  • Share your wish list with your friends, family and designer or art consultant.
  • View over 700 stunning rugs from our virtually boundless collection.
  • Request pricing and further information on our rugs.
  • Receive educational materials, new articles featuring Claremont & advanced notification of special events.

Already have an account?

Create an Account
(* denotes required field)
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]
  • Home
  • View Our Collection
  • Shopping With Us
  • Education
    ▸
    • Education
    • ANTIQUE RUG TYPE GUIDE
    • ANTIQUE ORIENTAL RUG CARE
    • DECORATING WITH ANTIQUE RUGS
    • COLLECTING & CONNOISSEURSHIP
    • Rug Care
    • JAN DAVID WINITZ, PRESIDENT
    • PURCHASING ANTIQUE RUGS
  • Press
  • Clients’ Homes
  • Contact Us
  • Login / Wish List