On a magic carpet ride

WHILE some people consider the carpet as the most humble of furnishings, others regard it as the highest form of art - an item with a touch of magic.

The territory's experts on fine and antique carpets - Chinese, Tibetan and Persian - explain their passion for rugs by pointing out the hours of painstaking work that go into their making.

Each carpet can take up to 25 years to produce. As self-confessed 'carpet fantastic', Rehman Mir - the owner of Mir Oriental Carpets - says: 'A carpet is the highest form of creative art, because a lot of effort and imagination has gone into making it.' His family-run shop in Wyndham Street is one of the territory's most distinguished dealers in Persian carpets, and sells rugs ranging from $1,000 to millions of dollars.

To the expert or collector, picking out a fine carpet from a pile of substandard rugs is easy; but to the inexperienced shopper, selecting a good purchase can be a headache. This is where experts like Mir - the fifth generation in his family to deal in carpets - come into their own.

Mir's advice to the novice buyer is to look for good colour combinations: 'Only an ugly colour can bring down the value of a carpet. The eye should roll over the carpet without one colour jumping out at you.' And he advises shoppers not to shop with the intention of trying to blend the colours of a carpet with a particular decor.

'That's so boring. You wouldn't try to match paintings with your furnishings, and carpets are like works of art on the floor.' Tami Bradley - manager of Altfield Gallery which specialises in Chinese and Tibetan antique carpets - offers similar advice.