From Library Journal
This lavishly illustrated volume focuses on the design and production of Western carpets from the Middle Ages to the present. Sherrill (Bard Graduate Ctr. for Studies in the Decorative Arts) begins the journey with an historical survey of the origins of these functional and decorative items, highlighting the Oriental influence of patterns and weaving techniques. Major carpet-producing countries, including France, Belgium, Great Britain, the United States, and Spain and Portugal, are highlighted in individual chapters, each of which contains magnificent illustrations of a wide variety of designs and patterns. Another chapter focuses on the carpet and rug industry of European countries that do not produce as much. The most renowned names in carpet production, including Aubusson, Beauvais, Exeter, Moorfields, and Savonnerie, among others, are prominently displayed in glorious illustrations. The most fascinating chapter, which concludes the work, covers progressive design and highlights a virtual who's who of notable architects and designers ranging from William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Victor Horta to Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright, Victor Vasarely, Keith Haring, and Jack Lenor Larsen. Highly recommended for libraries and collections emphasizing decorative arts.?Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson CityCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The Art Newspaper, July-August 1997
This beautifully-produced and lavishly-illustrated book is a tour-de-force of clearly-presented and meticulous research. . . . For the first time ever, here is an enjoyable, richly-informed, utterly reliable study of some of the finest achievements in Western textile history. . . . One of the best works of carpet scholarship and reference to have been written in decades. . . . This is a substantial work . . . well supported by high quality colour illustrations. Many years of patient research and careful documentation have gone into this book. . . . Particularly gratifying is the author's feeling for the written word which is fluent, clear, readable and unpretentious.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this comprehensive volume, Sarah Sherrill examines Western carpet design and production from the Middle Ages to the present, in styles that range from magnificent palatial creations to delightful folk designs. With hundreds of dazzling illustrations, Sherrill's authoritative text includes chapters on Moorish weavers and the golden age of carpets in Spain; the exquisite carpets of the Savonnerie, Aubusson, and Beauvais in France; productions from Moorfields, Exeter, and Axminster in England; the intriguing but little-studied rugs of Eastern European countries; the charming and resourceful rugs of America; and an important chapter on modern designs that offers an extensive survey of rugs created by leading artists and architects of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sherrill's stimulating text, based on years of research, brims with interesting new findings, not only on the history and design of these works, but also technological developments that had an often unrecognized effect on rug design and production.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal