Art Deco Chinese Carpet with Abstract Design
Of the carpets woven during the 30s at the Nichols & Co. Tianjin city looms in northern China, only a very limited number are decorated by the abstract patterns typical of the Art Deco period. The large majority of Nichols rugs of the period typically show a large scale botanical design in strong, contrasting colours, arranged around an open field.
On this superb example the field pattern is composed of rays in contrasting shades running across opposite corners, connecting quarter-circle motifs. This style first appears on rugs designed by Sonia Delaunay and is characterised by abstract motifs suggestive of lunar landscapes or by irregular shapes whose surfaces convey a marbled and spotted effect, the latter clearly influenced by Robert Delaunay’s theory of Simultaneism.