Header: Ashish Sahi
Jaipur Rugs has collaborated with Peter D’Ascoli on a collection of seven hand-knotted carpets that explore nineteenth-century ornamental traditions through the lens of contemporary textile practice. Titled “Gilded Age,” the series combines famous motifs, such as paisleys, florals, animal prints, and neoclassical forms, and washes them all over the rugs. Each pattern is structured to perfectly sit on a surface still made by hand on a loom.
The rugs are produced in Rajasthan using Bikaner wool, a material chosen for its durability and fibre quality. They are finished through Jaipur Rugs’ own system of in-house processing, which includes washing, stretching, and shearing to stabilise each piece. The design phase was collaborative, with D’Ascoli working directly with weavers and colour experts to adjust layouts and calibrate colour groupings so that the motifs remained intact during knotting, which can subtly shift proportions depending on density and yarn tension.
D’Ascoli brings several decades of textile research and production experience to the project, beginning with his training at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and continuing his work for interior and fashion brands before relocating to India, where he established Talianna Studio. His new approach is consistent with such a rich background: the stylistic references are wide, including Hollywood Regency and early twentieth-century French interiors, but the designs remain tightly composed of the highest quality.
Rather than staging a contrast between cultures or periods, the collection draws inspiration from European and South Asian traditions, focusing more on their materials rather than themes. The result is a set of rugs that can be placed virtually in any interior, bringing that old-school quality everyone recognises in rugs but giving it a modern new look.
