There was a web piece on MSNBC last week about the work of the GoodWeave organization. In addition to being happy every time the work of Goodweave is noted in the media, I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the piece also included some words of wisdom from an old friend, John Howe, who is well known in the collector circles of Rugdom.
John was helping to explain the distinction between production of carpets on a commercial scale which may exploit children for cheap labor, and the transmission of weaving skills from mother to daughter in cultures with an ancient tradition of rug-weaving, such as Persia (Iran) and Turkey.
Our carpets are produced in manufactories in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, and we are committed to supporting the excellent work of Goodweave in these countries.
We’ve been woefully lax in our blogging, and I have several project updates to do. I just added this photo of the Prairie-style design we did for a client earlier this year, based on her custom art glass window.
You can read more about the origin of the design, and stained-glass artisan Theodore Ellison, on my original post.
We believe in pricing our rugs fairly and delivering great value, so we don’t offer general discounts or have funny-money sale prices. But there’s a first time for everything, and we decided to test-drive the idea of a “recession special” through the end of the year.
So, from now until December 31, we are reducing our prices on our Voysey and Knox collection carpets. See the individual collection pages for pricing details.
The sale price applies to any purchases or orders placed between now and Dec. 31. Please contact us to inquire about availability, or if you have questions.
The Aesthete’s Lament featured a vintage Donegal carpet in its “Editor’s Choice” wish list of eclectic interiors items from the country house of Robert Harling, recently auctioned at Christies.
This approximately 9′ x 12′ carpet exceeded the estimate but still came in at a ridiculously reasonable £1,250 (approx.$2,090), a fabulous value. When you see the carpet in its context, both in the auction catalog and as highlighted by the Editor’s Choice, the decorative potential of these period pieces is clearly recognizable.
Read the original post for details about Harling, his tastes, and his tastemaking. And congratulations to the new owner of this piece, whose astute aesthetic sense has procured a stunning trophy and a great story of how he or she got it for a song.
I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Leann Harms of Design Trade Magazine for an article about social media. Design Trade is, as its title suggests, a trade magazine for interior designers. (Their blog, headed by Leann, is actually a lot more fun.)
After 15 years of protecting children and promoting ethical carpet and rug production, RugMark is phasing out its existing label and logo, replacing it with “GoodWeave” in order to reflect a new emphasis that incorporates broader labor and environmental standards.
Both the existing RugMark label and the new GoodWeave label certify that no children under age 14 were employed by the manufactory responsible for making the labeled rug.
In addition, GoodWeave will be working toward improving general labor conditions and increasing environmental responsibility in the five countries in which it operates. RugMark/GoodWeave is the only voluntary licensing program which uses independent verification to ensure its standards are met.
We’re very pleased with these developments. Our continued status as GoodWeave manufacturers allows us an effective means by which we can address some of the labor and environmental challenges we face in our industry. Our first batch of carpets with the new GoodWeave label will probably arrive in early September.
Bloggers whose core business is not blogging face a unique set of challenges. It’s hard enough to keep a blog filled with new and interesting content when blogging/publicity/PR/social media is your business; it’s even harder to do when writing a blog post is not a core competency, but just one more thing on an already packed to-do list. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, after a recent Twitter conversation about this with award-winning interior designer Tobi Fairley , I was inspired by her short, sweet, and colorful post about a recent purchase. I thought, “Hey! I can do brief and colorful.” So here’s a picture, along with a half-baked, half-thought-out, not-quite-ready-for-prime-time blog post.
This is one of my contemporary designs, based on a Japanese stencil pattern. We haven’t put it into production because it’s still an only child and I’d like it to have some siblings. (Our other designs are all Arts & Crafts, so a contemporary one like this doesn’ thave anyone to play with.)
Does it have potential? RugMark thinks so, they’ve used it as a background in a couple of their publications. With our blessing, of course. What do you think?
After 15 years of protecting children and promoting ethical carpet and rug production, RugMark is phasing out its existing label and logo, replacing it with “GoodWeave” in order to reflect a new emphasis that incorporates broader labor and environmental standards.
