Ten From Ten
BackANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
Ten of our most popular rugs from ten years on the Pimlico Road.
"It is 10 years since we opened our first Pimlico Road showroom and to mark this I have released an edit of our most popular and interesting rugs from the last 10 years. I am astonished by the diversity of design included in this collection. It includes watery frescos, sharp edged geometrics, history infused Mosaics, bold coloured recycled sari silks, vegetable dyed pieces and many many more."
Claudius from The Mosaic Collection
The Mosaic Collection was inspired by the discovery of a 2,000-year-old mosaic in the garden of my house a find for which the word ‘serendipity’ feels slight. The collection, however, is not a simple pastiche of Roman mosaics. Instead the aim is to breathe new life into these ancient symbols of luxury; to make them tangible again, but for our own time rather than as a replica of a time gone by. Pieces are imbued with a sense of the worn, the distressed; combined with the geometry from the mosaic pieces, this gives them a certain poetry and a beautiful structure.
A time worn effect is used in the Claudius. The intricate mosaic inspired pattern is seen along side areas of distressing. The colours are blue, red and chalky white.
Vortigern from The Mosaic Collection
A repeating circle motif with border, the surface has a subtle mosaic like effect and there is a finespun distressed effect on the surface of the rug; all of which combine to give the feeling of a time worn piece. Colours are the softest of greys and chalky whites.
Deverill from The Mosaic Collection
Directly inspired directly by the mosaic found at the Deverill Villa - including the orange, cream and slate colours.
Spring Clouds from The Fresco & Nimbus Collection
This collection goes back to the idea of rhythm and flow being the heart of every rug. This is the flow; ethereal abstracts that blend with everything and do not dominate in any way. This collection is inspired by two elements. Firstly, the Fresco where we took inspiration from plaster drying and plaster decaying. Secondly, Nimbus which was based on photographs of clouds in four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. All of these pieces are very subtle and non dominant.
The Spring Clouds rug is inspired by photographs of clouds in the four seasons, this being spring. It is an ethereal abstract that blends well into any room and does not dominate. Colours are a spectrum of blues and off-whites.
Ikat 8 from The Ikat Collection
This is a pan global design phenomenon and a design with which Luke Irwin is synonymous. Ikat originated in Indonesia but you find local twists on it everywhere – South American ikat, Japanese ikat, European ikat. We chose to rescale and embolden the colours in some and mute the colours in other.
One of our most popular designs. This rug is shot through with silk and has an iridescent quality. The neutral base colour is lifted by subtle blues.
Ikat 4 from The Ikat Collection
Here the ikat design has been rescaled and enlarged to create a bold and ever-popular piece.
Dreamweaver from The Geometric Collection
"I am constantly working on interesting geometrical patterns," say Luke, "and I particularly like designs which have a curve to them as opposed to being totally linear and angular. I always think of geometric designs as singularly masculine, perhaps it is the regimented order and lack of whimsy, but they have an understated chic about them that just quietly underlines everything else in a room".
This design has a curve to it as opposed to being totally linear and angular. This rug is made in blues and greys.
Dido from The Geometric Collection
A highly versatile that works as well in a soft barefoot space like a bedroom or a dressing room as it does in more formal spaces. A quick turnaround time makes Berber rugs ideal for any project be it a spare room revamp, a second home, or simply a room refresh.
A super soft berber rug with a naive monochromatic design.
Hex from The Geometric Collection
Luke says, “I am constantly working on interesting geometrical patterns and I particularly like designs which have a curve to them as opposed to being totally linear and angular. I always think of geometric designs as singularly masculine, perhaps it is the regimented order and lack of whimsy, but they have an understated chic about them that just quietly underlines everything else in a room. Every rug should either have rhythm or flow. Geometrics are the rhythm section”.
The Hex rug design is a deconstructed version of a 17th Century marquetry line drawing.
Holi from The Sari Silk Collection
Made from recycled sari silks. Within this collection 10% of the sari silk used is left undyed as a result there are colours shot through. The magnificent randomness of where the colour will fall coupled with the recycling process of using old saris and reapplying them to rugs makes this the most joyous and unexpected construction. Even a plain rug can have a wonderful design just by the random nature of the brilliant shots of colour which have been left undyed deliberately. This makes every single rug unique and gives a rhythm that is never predictable. It adds depth to rugs with structured design.
Made from recycled sari silks Holi Blue is woven with natural background and shades of blue. Ten percent of the sari silk material used is left undyed as as a result there are colours shot through the design. Each rug is therefore unique.
Saffron Sari Silk Klimt from The Sari Silk Collection
The magnificent randomness of where the colour will fall coupled with the recycling process of using old saris and reapplying them to rugs makes this the most joyous and unexpected construction. Even a plain rug can have a wonderful design just by the random nature of the brilliant shots of colour which have been left undyed deliberately. This makes every single rug unique and gives a rhythm that is never predictable. It adds depth to rugs with structured design.
Recycled saris are used and every one of the rugs is unique due to the wonderful shots of colour that randomly appear.
S Giovanna from The Tarantella Collection
This collection is entirely based on Italian peasant design of the 18th & 19th Century. Taken from daily objects such as tablecloths, bedspreads and clothing or from milking stools and ox yokes. A collection built on the rhythm of repeating patterns it reflects ordinary life rather than the highfalutin palazzos, dukes, popes and doges. There are remarkable similarities in some of these designs with South & Central American textile design of the same period and also with Navajo Indian – this is most probably caused by the constraints of the looms rather than any cultural crossover.
Made up of repeating patterns, inspired by Italian peasant design of the 18th & 19th Century, the S Giovanna rug is neutral in tone.
Fish Blue from The Animal Collection
The rugs in the Animal collection are the reimagining of animal skins and bizarre whimsical thoughts. Evidently, animal skins were the first form of the floor covering which, to prehistoric man, were really just for warmth. We add to the warmth with humour, an eye for colour and a playful reimagining of what went before.
We work entirely collaboratively with our weavers as they have the knowledge. The Fish rug is a perfect example of that collaboration. It was at their suggestion that the “water” was done in wool and the “fish” were done in exactly the same colour but in silk. The quantity of silk decreases as you get to the centre of the fish’s body. As a result, the fish disappear and reappear as you walk around the rug – very much like fish glinting in a pool.
Stonehenge from The Crop Circle Collection
Each piece in the collection is based on a crop circle that appeared in southern England in the mid 90s and the piece is named after the location where the circle happened. "I love the double meaning; the piece is either a rendering of a particular crop circle for example East Meon in July 1995 or or it is just a wonderful bold graphic. This was my very first collection".
"I have always been fascinated by the extraordinary geometry and graphics of crop circles”, says Luke Irwin. “It also struck me that of all art forms this lent itself best to rugs as it is a horizontal design best seen from above. By using different pile heights one can replicate the actual crop circle".