Among the highlights at this 11th edition of the event, which runs from January 26-February 14 at larta.net and on Instagram @lartarugfair, is a Goldsmiths’ College textile mural worked by the students from the college under the guidance of the pioneering textile artist Constance Howard (1910-2000).
“This textile mural was made in 1950 and depicts all the departments of the Goldsmiths’ college, where Constance Howard was head of textiles. She was wonderfully eccentric and dyed her hair green with lithographer’s ink in the 1930s,” says dealer Esther Fitzgerald.
It is offered at £3800 from Esther Fitzgerald Rare Textiles, which will also be exhibiting a 19th century Japanese Edo period fireman’s robe, also priced at £3800.
First timers
The London dealership is among six first-time LARTA exhibitors, alongside James Cohen Antique Carpets, Rugs of London, Clive Rogers Oriental Rugs, Ian Shaw and Rupert Smith Textiles. The fair hosts 20 exhibitors in all.
Other dealers include Galerie Arabesque of Stuttgart, which offers a 16th century Spanish tapestry with a large Castro family crest in a muted colour palette priced at £9000.
Carpet Restoration Studio is asking £8500 for an early 19th century Persian lion wool rug, made during the Qajar period as a symbol of power for the Shah and other important royalty.
