Tola Carpets
Tola235 Laurier Ouest, Montreal
Quebec Canada, H2T2N9
(514) 272-8500
www.tolacarpets.com
To call Tola a treasure trove, threading stories and histories, is an understatement. Its moniker meaning Weaver in Farsi, it initially specialized in imported Persian rugs but eventually diversified by introducing furniture of mostly Pan-Asian provenance: Indonesia, Thailand, Afghanistan with imports made from the African continent as well. Avid travelers Keith Bennett, along with his wife Gillian, perused the Middle-East and the Asian continent for decades.Enamored initially with Indian rugs, they meddled with selling them out of their own home until finally creating Tola. Peg it a modest beginning if you will but the Bennett’s have now been in business for more than 27 years, setting up shop in the trendy Outremont borough area.
The selection of each piece is streamlined primarily in accordance with each country’s exclusivities: Marble tables from Agra, India (Home of the Taj Mahal no less), Buddha statues from China, Thailand, masks from Africa and so forth. Each item is individually tagged as either contemporary or appropriately dated as some were produced as far back as the beginning of the 20th century. Though, to categorize Tola as an antique store (similar to those found on the west end of Notre-Dame for example) would be a misnomer. It demarcates itself chiefly by remaining an oriental carpet boutique and being the first business in North America to import Gabbeh’s. An apt raconteur, Keith relays to the uninitiated its history: Thicker than most rugs, Gabbeh’s are triple hand knotted carpets from nomad Qashqai tribes in southwestern Iran. Beginning as wool taken from the tribe’s sheep, they are spun by hand and colored with the local vegetation. The carpets are woven freestyle, meaning they are not given any pattern.
Always an expedient for client contact, Tola has devised two separate business cards: A regular small sized card pertinently pointing out available services such as repairs and cleaning (The rugs are made of silk, wool and other delicate materials, rendering professional cleaning mandatory). The alternative card is the size of a greeting card and empty: clients are provided with a pen and measuring tape in order to write down the measurements of the rug they might be possibly eyeing. They may also desire to order a new customized carpet, available and ready within the span of two to three months.
Located on Laurier St., Tola is spacious painted with earthy Terracotta hues against Lime tones and illuminated by an array of spotlights. Besides the masks, a plethora of accessories are also to be taken note of: candles, birdcages, copper pots, Turkish Killim purses, Russian shawls and, lest one forgets, a giant Indonesian bread spatula.
Roberto Cialdella,
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