A 17th-century carpet previously in the renowned collection of Martine Marie Pol, Comtesse de Béhague, set a new world record at auction last month.

The de Behague carpet, made in the Kirman region of south Persia, was hammered down at Christie’s for £6.2m (about $10m USD), almost doubled the previous record set by the Pearl Carpet of Baroda at Sotheby’s last year.

Journalist Charles Recknagel did a much better job with the backstory that I could, so I’ll refer you to his post on the Tea and Carpets blog.

[E]ven as Christie’s evaluators widely publicized the carpet’s pedigree before the auction, they badly underestimated what price the carpet might command.

The auction house estimated the carpet to be worth from $307,600 – $461,400. But when bidding began, the price immediately began soaring toward the stratosphere.

There were seven bidders, one in the auction room and six on the phone from Britain, continental Europe, the America and the Middle East. Among the parties, just one was a museum, all the rest were private collectors.

(Read the complete post here.)

At New York Fashion Week in February, designer Anna Sui’s show paid a stunning and creative tribute to the Arts and Crafts Movement. I was intrigued to see the values and aesthetics of the movement re-interpreted in a completely different genre. I had planned to write about this when it was hot off the press, but my blog posts, like my fashion choices, seem to be just a little bit behind the times.

This slideshow from the New York Times provides a visual overview of the collection.

Style.com’s review of the show sets the tone:

One of the many joys of an Anna Sui collection is the intro it gives you to worlds you know nothing about. This season’s show was a passport to the American Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth century. . .

I’d never heard of the furniture designer Charles Rohlfs, but Sui could produce a weighty coffee-table book devoted to his work. As it was, she designed an embroidery based on a Rohlfs’ chest of drawers. . .

Sui hunted down the place where Roycroft tiles were manufactured during the Arts and Crafts years and had them reproduced to be used as pendants (the Erickson Beamon jewelry in the collection was outstanding).

Here’s a trendy and obnoxiously bleeding-edge production video in which the designer talks about the Arts & Crafts Movement and its influence.

From design site UnBeige:

One artistic accent to watch for is a shout-out to the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler galleries. Sui designed a t-shirt to celebrate artist James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room, which was installed in the Freer nearly a century ago. . . Proceeds from the t-shirt, which will appear on the runway this evening and be available for purchase in September, will support the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler galleries “to benefit and support the appreciation and study of Asian art and culture.”

Note to self: Remember to buy one of these shirts in September.

It’s been a truism in the interior design industry for some time that fashion trends trickle down to interiors. Anna Sui’s show received rave reviews, and I’m in favor of anything that raises the visibility of the Arts and Crafts Movement and its artisans. It will be interesting to see how Anna Sui’s fashion vision might influence other areas of popular culture.

Oh, and dear Ms. Sui: We have some rugs that may interest you!

The GoodWeave spring newsletter is now online. The newsletter features updates from the GoodWeave industry partners (including Guildcraft Carpets, of course), industry events, and details on the progress of various GoodWeave programs and campaigns, as well as other forms of encouragement.

Thanks again to all our friends at the RugMark/GoodWeave organization for their continued support and excellent programming as we strive to build conscientious and sustainable business practices in the carpet industry.

Guildcraft Carpets is one of the companies featured in the 2010 GoodWeave Rug Sourcebook, a full-color, hands-on resource guide for interior designers.

The Sourcebook will debut at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York March 18-21. If you’re there, stop by the GoodWeave booth (#774) to say hello and pick up copy.

This weekend was the 23rd annual  Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.  This is the Main Event for devotees of the Arts & Crafts Movement – antiques, reproductions, artisans, educational workshops, you name it. An eclectic bunch of people are drawn in every year by their common love of the works and philosophy of Arts & Crafts.

This was the first year out of the past five that we haven’t displayed at the conference.  I wish we’d been able to attend –we missed seeing our old friends, and making new ones. The conference is always fascinating and stimulating, and the venue is gorgeous. I’ve always wondered if it was possible to roast a whole oxen in one of the lobby fireplaces.

The Asheville Citizen-Times posted a slideshow of the show setup and early arrivals on Friday.

See the previous posts tagged with “GPI” (Grove Park Inn) and our GPI 2009 photoset on Flickr.

Choosing a GoodWeave certified rug is not only the right thing to do, it’s a design trend for 2010, says Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Editor-in-Chief of Natural Home.

Seeing the clear connection between beautifully designed, high-quality rugs and the hands that wove them, she says:

Purchase chic rugs from socially responsible companies. Look for the Goodweave label to ensure your new rug wasn’t made by children.

We appreciate any media attention that raises the profile of GoodWeave and highlights the importance of the issue of child labor in our industry.  This means more consumers have the information they need to choose the right rugs. And with each GoodWeave rug sold, there is greater market pressure on producers to forego child servitude, and children are spared.

Here’s to a trend that’s good for everyone!

Here’s a four-minute video about the work of GoodWeave (formerly RugMark) in its efforts to bring about an end to illegal child labor in the carpet industry. By purchasing a GoodWeave-certified carpet, you help support the work of rehabilitation, schooling, and training of former child slaves.

We’ve always been strongly committed to the GoodWeave organization and its work. It is a fabulous non-profit organization, run in a lean and effective manner by people with a passion for their cause. Learn more here. Then please come back and order a rug!