Chinese Art Deco Rug

Almost all of it is left empty. That takes nerve in a rug this size.

This Chinese Art Deco rug comes from China, from about 1930, and is made of wool. Between the wars, workshops in China wove carpets like this largely for export, to furnish the homes of Western buyers who liked open fields and asymmetrical motifs. A flowering branch and a blue rock reach in from one corner, while ribbons, flowers and a small vessel drift in from the edges. All of it sits on a wide tan field, mottled with tonal patches, inside a deep blue border. Over fourteen feet on the long side and about nine on the short.

The middle of the room has been left to you.