We are pleased to be showcasing the art of Jonah Roll! Come check it out and check out more of his art on his website here! His magical and colorful style is a delight. Jonah spent much of his childhood on “the Flying Walrus”, a 42′ sailboat. You can see the influence in his paintings! Thanks Jonah for sharing your vision!

The Mamluks have arrvied!!!

For a while now, we have been stocking some superb examples of Mamluk rugs. What is a Mamluk rug? Good question! First, a little history.

The word “Mamluk” is translated to “owned”. The Mamluk were a slave caste who were converted to Islam and served as soldiers under the the Muslim Arab Caliphs. Many of the these Mamluk soldiers were Circassians. On several occasions, they rose to power, overthrowing their retainers and for more than two centuries ruled over Egypt and Syria as the Mamluk Dynasty (1250-1517 AD).

During that time, the arts flourished. The age of the Mamluks is often referred to as a renaissance of Islamic arts. Mamluk rugs are particularly resplendent. These carpets can be described as having a sublime quality; more than just fine carpets, they are evocative works of art. Their remarkable composition of arabesques and geometric forms hint at the search to represent unity or singularity within complexity.

Some of my favorite rug producers have been successfully creating killer new Mamluks rugs! These rugs are being woven in Egypt, in Afghanistan, in India and in Pakistan. Check out some of these images. Click on the image for more info on the rug. And keep on rugging! Regards, Chris

At Nomad Rugs “The Eagle Chicken has landed”!!!

Check out these killer new rugs woven in Afghanistan. They are based on the classic “Bird Rugs” of the Luri, Khamsheh and Qashq’ai tribes of Iran.

These rug are the inspiration of rug expert and author, James Opie. Animals, especially birds, often appear in the rugs of the tribal and nomadic weavers of Iran and Central Asia. This makes perfect sense when you think about what a central role animals (and nature in general) played in the lives of these weavers.

I am absolutely delighted by these new rugs! Not only is the quality exceptional: glossy handspun wool, tight weaving and rich saturated natural dyes! But the “drawing” of the rug is also fabulous and true to the originals: powerfully tribal yet whimsical and playful at the same time. I hope you like these rugs as much as I do.

Click on any image to take you to a full sized picture of the rug.

all my best, Chris

Various Uzbek Ikats

You may have heard of Ikats? They are woven fabrics made using a complex tie-died method. This technique has been used primarily in Uzbekistan and Indonesia. Well, you may also know that the Uzbek Ikats (know there as “abr”) and Ikat designs have been inspiring western fashion designers who have been incorporating them into clothes. They have also been showing up as furniture upholstery.

And now, Uzbek Ikat is used as the design source to create unique and beautiful rugs! Very cool. Well, actually, there is some thought that Ikat designs have been influencing rug design (and vice-versa) in Central Asia for hundreds of years. But, it is new to see such faithful recreations of Ikats done in naturally dyed pile rugs made in Afghanitan. Very cool stuff! Personally, I love these new rugs! There are a few rug producers that I know who have been playing with this idea. I am lucky to have recently acquired some fabulous examples of this new cross pollination art!

Check out some of these beauties!! (the rugs I mean!) Click on a rug image for more info and additional images.

Stop by the shop sometime and check out the new Ikat rugs!

all my best,

Chris

San Francisco’s Marina district Motel Capri became the site of an extraordinary rug bazar! Long the site of informal rug business during the annual Caskey-Lees world class Tribal Arts and Textile Show the Motel Capri was home to the first (and hopefully annual!) Antique Rug and Textile show. “The Antique Rug & Textile Show (ARTS) is a co-operation between 35 antique rug and textile dealers and Jozan Magazine. Main organizer of the show is the international antique rug & textile dealer Michael Craycraft. Bertram Frauenknecht is co-organizer.”

Based on the dealers that I talked to (and on the reporting from Hali magazine) the show was declared a success! Many dealers mentioned that in addition to selling, they did some very good buying amoungst the dealers from Turkey, Europe, the USA and other distant locals. Pulling up to the Motel, it was extraordinary to witness the many 19th century rugs draped over 3 floors of motel banisters. It looked liked a camel caravan from the silk road had exploded in the carport! Anyway, thanks for all the hard work from the organizers and I hope you do it again!

Greetings. Well, fall has rolled around again and it’s time for our annual fall sale. Yeah!!!

It has been a tough year but we made it! Things have picked up this fall after a particularly slow winter. And we have a ton of beautiful rugs! Actually, we have a few too many rugs, so we are offering a large discount with loads of clearance rug!

This year, our clearance rugs are 40% off!!!

We have a new section on our website simply titled “Clearance Rugs” . The “clearance” price marked here reflects the 40% off our normal retail price. These clearance items are new, perfect condition rugs that simply have been our inventory a little too long. It is time to find them a home! (and maybe it will be your home?)

If you are ordering online, the 40% discount is already listed and no additional discount will apply to the clearance price.

Remember, at Nomad Rugs we do not sell the run-of-the-mill, mass produced oriental rugs. We sell unique, one-of-a-kind, naturally dyed rugs made in small cottage industry rug workshops. Plus, I personally inspect every rug that comes into my store. Every rug I sell is made with artistic and structural integrity! As I like to say, this is art you can walk on!

The sale ends November 30th so stop by soon. Me ‘n Chico look forward to seeing you!

best regards, Chris ‘n Chico

We are proud to be showcasing the art of local color master Marc Ellen Hamel in our backroom gallery!

She works in a wonderful abstract style the emphasises her bold use of color and rich texture. Marc Ellen is a Noe Valley local who lives just down the street from the shop and paints in her studio in Hunters Point.

Please come to our opening reception on Friday night from 6pm to 8pm. Meet and greet the fabulous artist, drink some wine, eat some cheese and pet Chico! We look forward to seeing you!

All works for this show are in oil and all pieces are available for purchase. I can’t help to think how much Marc Ellen’s work reminds me of some of the colorful Gabbeh rugs that we sell such as this one or this one too. What do you think?

Learn more about Marc Ellen here from her website.

See you at the show! Hurry ’cause the show ends Oct. 25, 2009!

Hi y’all. For the Holidays, Chico decided it would be a good idea to put all of his pillows on sale! So, until January 31st we are offering 30% off all our pillows!

There are a whole bunch to choose from! We have new pillows made from Belouch camel bags and antique rug fragments made into rugs. Mostly we have tribal designs. Here are a few images to get you interested. The price range from about $40 to about $135.

Come-on-by and get your pillow today. Chico’s waiting to greet you!

Woof!

The age of the internet has created a vast resource of information. There is so much out there! And, the internet has allowed a small independent rug store like Nomad Rugs to reach people throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, the US and the rest of the world! Although most of our clients are from within a couple of miles of the shop, I am proud to say that I have many happy customers on the East Coast, the Mid West, the South, the West Coast… the whole length and breadth of this nation! And, I have even reached clients as far away as Paris, France and Melbourne, Australia.

So what are people saying about Nomad Rugs. One thing I love on the web is that you can look up reviews left by Joe or Jane Public. I always read reviews of products I’m considering or businesses that I have visited. What are people saying about Nomad Rugs? Lot’s of good things! Thank y’all for all of the favorable reviews!

Here’s what they say about us on Citysearch.

Here are reviews from Yelp.

There is one entry so far on Judy’s Book.

And there are also some reviews on Google.

And a couple of awesome reviews on Yahoo.

We are also listed as one of the San Francisco’s best Oriental Rug and Carpet Dealer on Barry O’Connell’s fabulous and expansive website, Spongobongo which is listed on our links page (here).

And finally, we were recently written up on the fabulous site, Apartment Therapy. Check out their write-up here and click around on this site. This is a great resource.

Thanks again everyone! I look forward to seeing you in the store!

Chris