ANWER Islam is tall, slim and dapper, with long tapered fingers, slicked-back hair, a bow tie and a gracious manner. He blends perfectly with the hushed, glossy interior of his antique gallery, until he whips out photographs from a trip to Inner Mongolia.
The rough life there of riding on horseback, eating in yurts (Mongolian tents) and wandering across bug-infested grasslands is far removed from Hollywood Road and is the ultimate thrill, he said. 'This is why I'm in the business, it's so much fun.' His enjoyment of the raw side of life will spill into his elegant shop, Chine Gallery, which he runs with his Guangdong-based brother, Zafar, when they open an exhibition of Mongolian carpets this week.
The polished wood antiques and richly embroidered fabrics will be moved aside to make way for a specially made yurt, which will be hung with carpets and decorated with the basic requirements of a nomad's life: an altar, bench, stove, bed.
The focus will be on the carpets, though, which traditionally were used to keep out the heat during the day and the cold wind at night, and cushion the ground.
Mr Islam has collected more than 200 Mongolian carpets over the past two years from families and contacts in Inner Mongolia, and he hopes to boost a market he feels has been neglected by many Western carpet collectors.
'Western society is strongly interested in Persian and Caucasian carpets which started much earlier [than Mongolian and Chinese carpet-making],' he said.