Something old

i Pineapple quilt
American

Imported to the US by British Quakers, the craft of quilting was taken up by the Amish communities of Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Initially made as dowries or prestigious gifts, they were, by the 1890s, also produced commercially and became highly fashionable bed coverings. They still enjoy this status today, partly because their high-quality stitching and labour-intensive production encapsulates those traditional American values: skillful application and hard work. This early 20th-century example is a Pineapple pattern and remains immensely appealing to a modern aesthetic. $5,850
www.pookandpook.com

ii Pair of cushions
English

In larger and smaller (“his and hers”) sizes, these embroidered, piped and tasselled cushions were made in England between 1700 and 1710. In wonderful condition, their linen backs are covered with a geometric lattice pattern in yellow false-quilting stitch, while their linen ground “show” sides are delicately worked in fine chain-stitch with a polychrome pattern of meandering foliage sprouting various stylised blooms.

The latter are typical of the late 17th and early 18th centuries and their sources of inspiration include the exotic floral decoration found in illustrated Persian manuscripts and on imported Indian calicoes (indiennes) and Chinese porcelain. £5,300
www.kerrytaylorauctions.com

iii Rug
Eileen Grey

Grey has been much in the news recently. In February, 32 years after her death, her one-off Dragon chair, designed around 1919 and acquired by Yves Saint Laurent in the 1970s, fetched £19.4m at auction – by far the most expensive 20th-century decorative artefact to date. In comparison, the asking price for this art deco woollen rug she designed in the late 1920s is a snip. Comprising stylised floral motifs set in a geometric pattern and woven in pale rose, burgundy, beige and gold yarns, it is a classic example of her Francophile deco designs. $15,000
www.decodame.com

iv Tablecloth
Otto Prutscher

Prutscher, an Austrian architect and designer who lived from 1880 to 1949, designed this linen tablecloth around 1919. Made at the Rhomberg factory in Bavaria, it was originally distributed by the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops). Prutscher studied under their co-founder, Josef Hoffmann, in the late 19th century. Woven in turquoise and white, the cloth’s pleasingly proportionate geometric pattern reveals the influence of Hoffmann and the Viennese secession, which bridged the gap between the late 19th-century art nouveau and jugendstil styles and the 20th-century Bauhaus and modern movement. €2,500
www.palais-kinsky.com/en

v Strawberry Thief curtains
William Morris

Cotton or linen fabrics with printed (rather than woven) flora and fauna patterns were a 17th-century European development of colourful printed calicoes from India. Best-known as chintzes, they have been a perennial favourite for British soft furnishings ever since. Dated to the early 1880s, the pattern on this pair of curtains was designed by the founder of the arts and crafts movement, William Morris. Entitled Strawberry Thief, it was inspired by the thrushes Morris found stealing fruit from his kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, central England. £750 for the pair.
www.lyonandturnbull.com

Judith Miller is the author of annual antiques and collectables guides for Millers

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Something new

1 Clouds
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

The Bouroullec Brothers, working with leading Danish textile producer Kvadrat, have come up with an innovative way to bring warmth, colour and excitement to interiors. Double-faced textile “tiles” are clipped to each other with special rubber bands and you simply attach them to each other as you wish. There is no right or wrong way to do it. The tiles come in seven colour combinations and boxed in eight or 24. You choose whether to use them on the wall, floor or, with a separate hanging system, on the ceiling. From €285 for eight pieces.
www.kvadratclouds.com

2 Salim
Alfredo Haberli

Ruskstuhl would be a good place to start when looking for contemporary carpeting. The Swiss company works with natural fibres such as wool, linen and sisal for both wall-to-wall carpeting and area rugs. In 2005 the brand launched +Plus 05, a five-piece range by Zurich-based industrial designer Alfredo Häberli. I think Salim is the modern version of the decorative doily but in place of dainty lace Haberli has gone for a simple geometric pattern punched out of woolen felt, successfully transforming one of the oldest fabrics around into something very contemporary. Available in five colours. From €837-€1,576.
www.ruckstuhl.com

3 Flax
Christien Meindertsma

This rug from Design Academy Einhoven graduate Meindertsma was presented by Thomas Eyck in Milan this April during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile. It offers self-assembly with a difference; with a 110-metre-long length of traditionally made Dutch rope you can make your own rug. Go for circular, as shown here, and you will end up with a carpet about 2 metres in diameter but you can also go oval, rectangular or something else entirely for different coverage. A wooden peg on one end prevents unravelling and the weightiness of the flax means it keeps its shape. €1,960.
www.thomaseyck.com

4 Fish
Eva Zeisel

The latest edition to the London-based Rug Company’s impressive international roster of talent is 102-year-old, Hungarian-born Zeisel. The industrial designer, who moved to New York in 1938 and has worked there ever since, is best known for her organic modernist designs for ceramics. For the Rug Company, she adapted three designs originally created for tiles. The repeats work just as well hand knotted in Tibetan wool. £515 per square metre.
www.therugcompany.info

5 Gigantic Plush Flowerball
Takashi Murakami

Showing for the first time at Design Miami in December last year, artist Murakami and his studio Kaikai Kiki presented merchandise inspired by his artworks. Included in the offer were three Gigantic Plush Flowerballs, ranging in size from 1.5 metres to 2.5 metres in diameter. The freestanding balls have a metal base, a polyurethane and glass fibre reinforced plastic core and are covered with cheery acrylic boa plush – probably not a material you have previously considered suitable for your home. Never say never. $70,000-$230,000.
www.kaikaikiki.co.jp

Nick Vinson is special projects director at Wallpaper* magazine