At the Tai Ping house, carpets are like artwork

By inaugurating a new showroom on the right bank, Tai Ping joins the rosary of major decorative publishers who have chosen the surroundings of the former royal square and rue du Mail to settle, and for some recently. The renewal of the neighbourhood makes it one of the epicenters of Paris Design Week since Pierre Frey, Pinto Paris, Bérengère Leroy, Galerie Anne Jacquemin Sablon, Pierre Gonalons, Toulemonde Bochart, and the distributors AMPM and Made.com had responded in 2020. Designed by American architect Elliott Barnes, the Taiping space will host an exhibition of exceptional carpets, made according to the drawings of Chinese artist Jamy Yang.

Back to its roots, this factory born in Hong Kong in 1956. Sixty-five years ago, brothers Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie, of Iraqi origin, created their carpet factory to provide employment for the hundreds of unemployed Chinese refugees who were flocking to the former British colony. Tai ping is the inventor of the tufting technique, a process that allows for extremely precise designs while providing a deep, soft feel. This know-how makes Tai ping one of the preferred partners of specifiers for high-end projects around the world. 

In the unique Taiping factory in Xiamen, southeast China, craftsmen can realize the most complex custom-made wishes. The carpets, made to measure, with or without relief effects, are laid on the floors of the most prestigious homes and hotels, not to mention yachts and private aviation fleets. The manufacturers masters all the stages of production, from the spinning of the silk or wool -all the materials are natural-to the last blow of scissors and razors, which sculpt with a goldsmith’s precision.

The dyeing workshop allows a limitless variety in the color baths. The threads are then implanted with a tufting gun with a craftsman's hand as a painter, on a stretched canvas where the desired design has been reproduced. “People come to us for the craziest ideas, says Sophie You, who manages Tai ping France. We are known for our subtle color gradations, mixtures of techniques and reliefs”. For Jamy Yang's exhibition in September, the artisans had to reproduce the scrolls and stripes of abstract lights inspired by physics, gravity, and speed. "In addition to these commissioned masterpieces, we also have a line of mass-produced products that serve as the basis of inspiration for many clients," says Sophie You. The general public collection is visible on the first floor of the showroom at Place des Victoires, while the first floor exhibits exceptional pieces like that of an art gallery.

Photo ©Francis Amiand