Authentic English Axminster Blue, Red Carpet BB6127 17'7" × 30'8" $250,000

An antique English Axminster rugs from the mid 19th century, which is among the finest among the antique rugs at the Doris Leslie Blau gallery. The carpet has a cobalt blue field with a restrained allover design of staggered floral motifs within a dramatic scrolling vinery and enlarged paisley border in red, light blue, beige and ivory.

Some of the most famous Axminster antique European carpets were designed by renowned architect and furniture maker Robert Adam. The elegant large area rugs he designed for Harewood House circa 1770 currently resides at the Metropolitan Museum is not dissimilar to the Lansdowne carpet, circa 1775. They both employ classical motifs based on the antique finds at Herculaneum and Pompeii in the late 18th century. They share a sense of orderly symmetry in the overall design using Palladian elements such as columns, pediments, architraves, trophy compartments and a string of bell flowers along with classical masks. The Axminster antique rugs he designed often mimicked the plasterwork of the ceiling above. He used nearly garish intensity of colors which have faded over time.