Art Deco Wool Carpet
Design Date c. 1935
Designer Ivan da Silva Bruhns (1881-1980, French)
Media wool
Dimensions 137 1/2 x 103 inches
The Art Deco period of carpet-making focused on minimalist shapes and cross-hatching on bare fields of muted colors, like this rug’s beige background. During this period, Ivan da Silva Bruhns, a French-born Brazilian carpet-maker who previously experimented with bright Cubist and Aztec-inspired patterns in his rugs, adopted the sparer Art Deco style. Art Deco rugs by da Silva Bruhns incorporated overlapping geometric shapes like these circles and stripes, in one or two harmonic, natural colors. After studying to be a doctor, da Silva Bruhns abandoned medicine for carpet design. He learned how to weave by unraveling oriental carpets to see their construction.
ON VIEW in Art Deco Gallery 6
Markings "da Silva Bruhns" signature in weave at center of one short end
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 1998.0033
