A powerfully geometric antique Bordjalu Kazak rug, South Caucasus, c1860 (107 x 219 cm), from RugSpecialist
The London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) returns to the mezzanine of the winter edition of the Decorative Fair in London’s Battersea Park.
LARTA is the annual gathering of London’s only specialist event for fine antique textile art, antique carpets, vintage rugs and associated works of art frequented by collectors and interior designers. Taking place for the 13th year in succession, LARTA 2026 is bringing some new exhibitors, as well as our regular specialist dealers.
Launched in 2011, the LARTA fair is an important date for decorators, collectors and discerning buyers looking for both collectible and decorative rugs and textiles to add that ’je ne sais quoi’ to an interior.
The expert dealers are offering items originating from Persia, India, China, Japan, Central Asia, Anatolia and the Caucasus, as well as from Europe, Africa and the Americas.
Here are some of the highlights
20TH CENTURY MODERN specialising in distinctive 20th century rugs, carpets and kilims.
AARON NEJAD, with his amazing eye for colour, celebrated his 30th anniversary as one of London's leading sources of carpets and textiles from both the East and from Europe.
EMILY'S HOUSE, founded by the London-based Belgian dealer Katrien Vermeeren, is the place for tribal pieces, including Turkish kilims and nomadic rugs.
As always, Markus Voigt always emerges from the depths of the Black Forest with pieces to intrigue – in this case a rare early Swiss embroidery of showing Christ breaking bread with the two desciples he has met near Emmaus. Measuring a metre in height, the emproidery has been traced back as far as 19th-century Venice, when it then found its way to America. It has been dated to c1580.
New to LARTA this year is İbrahim Tekin's incredibly versatile RugSpecialist, which has galleries in Spring Valley, New York as well Istanbul. The Ghiordes prayer rug takes pride of place opposite the masthead in the new Cornucopia, No 69.
RugSpecialist has a particularly strong showing of Caucasus carpets such as this superb South Caucasus Bordjalu Kazak rug, c1860 (main picture)
A powerfully geometric antique Bordjalu Kazak rug, South Caucasus, c1860 (107 x 219 cm), from RugSpecialist
