Style
Medallion
Every piece in this style, across all of our collections. Narrow them down by size and price.
- Under 6 x 9
- Runners
- 6 x 9
- 8 x 10
- 9 x 12
- 10 x 14
- 12 x 15
- Over 12 x 15
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Stories from the Medallion Archive
Essays, artist dialogues, and provenance notes drawn from Rug & Kilim’s editorial desk.
A Guide to Bessarabian Rugs: History, Design, and Modern Luxury
Within the world of collectible textiles and luxury interiors, few rug traditions possess the quiet sophistication and painterly elegance of Bessarabian rugs. Emerging from the historic region of Bessarabia—an area historically situated between present-day Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine—these rugs occupy a unique position at the crossroads of Eastern European folk tradition, Ottoman influence, Russian imperial culture, and French decorative aesthetics. Unlike the geometric tribal weavings commonly associated with Central Asia or the medallion-driven structures of Persian carpets, Bessarabian rugs developed a distinctly atmospheric and ornamental visual language. Their floral compositions, subdued tonal harmonies, and expansive decorative fields positioned them closer to European decorative arts than purely utilitarian floor coverings.
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The Complete Guide to Oushak Rugs: History, Aesthetic Language, and Contemporary Design Use
Oushak rugs, also spelled Uşak or Ushak, stand among the most influential textile traditions in the history of interior design. Originating in western Anatolia, in the historic weaving town of Uşak in present-day Turkey, these carpets are not merely decorative artifacts; they are architectural design elements, cultural documents, and artistic statements that have shaped interior aesthetics across centuries. From Ottoman imperial courts to Renaissance European palaces and today’s luxury residential, hospitality, and gallery spaces, Oushak rugs continue to define a visual language of soft geometry, spacious design, muted tonal harmony, and painterly abstraction. Their enduring relevance places them at the intersection of art history, textile heritage, and contemporary interior design innovation.
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Navajo Rugs: History, Art, Design & the Legacy of Diné Weaving
Navajo rugs occupy a singular position within the history of American textile art. Woven by decorative tradition. They embody generations of knowledge surrounding sheep, wool, spinning, natural materials, color, geometry, landscape, community, and cultural continuity. simultaneously as cultural expression, design, craftsmanship, and fine art. the familiar geometric vocabulary. It means understanding the history of Diné weaving, the beyond their decorative presence. Our interest lies in the relationship between weaving tradition, material quality, design intelligence, cultural history and architectural application.
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The Evolution of Floral Motifs in Antique Rugs and Kilims: Mapping the Pomegranate, Tulip, and Carnation
Antique 17th Century French Beauvais Tapestry with Floral Vase - Rug & Kilim, NO. 36829 We had a tapestry acquisition unfolding itself in the studio a while ago. Josh and the team just stood there, silently admiring the way the light caught the threads. This was the Antique French Beauvais Tapestry (SKU 36829). It was handwoven in wool, with natural silk accents, circa 1700. When you look at something like that, you do not just see fabric. What you see is the garden of wool and dreams. The precise interlacing of the wefts gives a picture of a gigantic floral vase placed atop an architectural entablature. The botanical imagery is absolutely mesmerizing. There is so much wealth and mystery to it all.
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Zeki Müren and the Carpet as Self-Portrait: The Pasha Who Designed His Own Floor
In the showroom of Hüseyin Kaplan, in the Sultanahmet quarter of Istanbul beneath the minarets of the old city, there are more than five hundred carpets that belong to no classical category. They are not Hereke, not Oushak, not the courtly Ottoman medallion weavings that the connoisseur expects from this geography. They are jewel-toned and abstract, shot through with an abstract confidence, and they bear, some of them, the signed ones, a name woven into the border that any Turk and most serious collectors would recognise instantly. They are the work of Zeki Müren, and they constitute one of the most singular bodies of design the twentieth-century carpet has produced.
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European Rug Medallions: Symbols of Art, Power, and Prestige
Few design elements are as grand in sensibility and presence in European textile art quite like the medallion. More than a decorative addition, the medallion is a visual and conceptual anchor, a motif that echoes across mediums—from the ceilings of Renaissance palaces to the manuscripts of medieval scriptoriums. It appears in the gilded stuccoes of Baroque cathedrals, in the frescoed vaults of Rome, and in the symmetrical tapestries of Flemish masters. Within European rug design, the medallion serves as a bridge between the woven and the built environment; an ornate emblem of high art. To understand the European medallion is to explore its dialogue with architecture, painting, and decorative arts. The arabesques of Savonnerie carpets mirror the aesthetics of Peter Paul Rubens painting; the laurel-framed insignias in English Axminster rugs recall the neoclassical symmetry of a Robert Adam ceiling.
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