DURING the Meiji period, dantsu rugs were one of Japan’s most important exports to The West.
KEEPING this tradition alive is Oriental Carpet Mills Co. Ltd. rugs. Its products are housed in prominent locations such as the embassies of various countries and the National Theatre of Japan, as well as the Imperial Palace and Japan’s State Guest Houses. The company has also fulfilled overseas orders from places such as the Vatican Palace and Roosevelt Memorial Hall in the United States.
In 1935, with the help of seven craftsmen from China, Oriental Carpet Mills Co. Ltd. was established and introduced carpet craft into a small city in northern Japan, Yamanobe. Since then, this company has been been producing high-quality handmade carpets and rugs featuring a Japanese sense of beauty. The factory is more like an artisan’s studio; all of the processes including procurement, spinning, designing, dying and weaving are done by the craftsmen.
The design of this carpet (picture below) suggests a depth as boundlesss as a seascape.The delicate subtleties in yarn pigment and highly skilled weaving techniques have enabled the creators to replicate an image like that of a photograph.This piece works not only as a carpet, but also as a hanging tapestry.
@ www.oriental-carpet.jp