Irish Antique Rugs and Carpets

The Arts and Crafts Movement grew out of the design revolution spawned by English artists like William Morris and Christopher Dresser, eventually encompassing not only textiles, carpets, and wallpapers, but also furniture and furnishings of all kinds. In Ireland and Scotland, this movement gradually came to focus on native Celtic traditions from the Middle Ages, and eventually elements from the Art Nouveau movement in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Irish Arts and Crafts carpets tended to exhibit a fascinating blend of Celtic and Oriental carpet designs. The Donegal type included Art Nouveau elements as well.