Oxford rug trader to celebrate 50 years in business

Titled '50 Years - Along The Way', it will showcase exhibitions, developments, changing markets, and innovations over the past five decades.

It celebrates Christopher Legge's five decades in the business and will be held at Legge Carpets and Textiles, in Oxford, from October 19-27.

A hand-made rug with a Festival-of-Britain inspired border design (Image: Legge Carpets and Textiles)Mr Legge said: "As a 26-year-old man, already bitten by the bug, I thought if I can get a little shop and fill it with rugs, people will come and buy them and I'll be able to indulge my new-found obsession of buying rugs.

"It turned out to be not quite as simple as that, but the fact that I am still able to indulge that obsession 50 years later suggests that it hasn't been entirely unsuccessful either."

Senneh vagireh, or ornak, a woven sampler with a gul farang design (Image: Legge Carpets and Textiles) He recalled the early influence of his parents' home, which was furnished with a few rugs, and a memorable visit to Elliston & Cavell, a then-prominent department store in Oxford, to choose a rug for the sitting room.

He said: "I can still picture it now, a Hamadan with an attractive pale indigo field."

Being both a dealer and a collector has, at times, been challenging for Mr Legge, but he said the need to support a family and maintain a flow of attractive goods through the shop largely solved this problem.