At Auction: The Textile Legacy of Pip Rau
This February, Olympia Auctions presents a timed single-owner sale that will resonate deeply with collectors and textile lovers alike: The Pip Rau Collection of Ikats, Embroideries and Costumes, Part I. Running from 19 February to 1 March 2026, the auction offers a rare opportunity to encounter the legacy of one of London’s most distinctive and influential figures in the field of Central Asian textiles.
Pip Rau in her Islington shop in 1988. Photograph: Richard Waite
Pip Rau (1938–2024) was a dealer, collector and indefatigable traveller whose eye for colour and form shaped tastes far beyond her Islington shop. In 1974, she opened Rau on Islington Green, a small but legendary space that she ran for four decades. From here, she introduced generations of artists, designers and collectors to textiles and costumes from Uzbekistan, northern Pakistan and, above all, Afghanistan – a country she loved deeply and visited repeatedly from the early 1970s onwards.
An Ikat panel, Uzbekistan. Collection of Pip Rau.
Rau’s sensibility was rooted in her art school training at St Martin’s School of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts, but it was her instinctive response to textiles that truly set her apart. She selected pieces for their visual impact rather than technical perfection, responding to graphic force, rhythm and colour with a painter’s eye. This approach found its fullest expression in her passion for ikat. After discovering her first example in Kabul in 1976, she began assembling a collection that would later be widely exhibited, including at the Crafts Council in London in 1988 and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2007. Around fifty Lakai embroideries from her collection are now held by the British Museum.
An Ikat chapan and an Ikat robe, Uzbekistan, early 20th century. Collection of Pip Rau.
The Olympia sale reflects this breadth and confidence of vision. Highlights include ikat textiles and costumes of striking immediacy, alongside embroideries that speak to Rau’s long engagement with Central Asian making traditions. As Arthur Millner of Olympia Auctions notes, the collection is both extensive and varied, with estimates ranging from £100 to £15,000, ensuring that it appeals not only to established collectors and dealers but also to those newly drawn in by the “sensational colours and designs”.
A collection of embroidered purses and pouches, Hazara, Afghanistan, late 19th,20th century. Collection of Pip Rau.
Pip Rau’s life was as unconventional as her taste – rebellious, peripatetic and marked by an enduring curiosity about the world. Her textiles travelled widely too, appearing in films including The Shining and Gladiator, and continuing to inspire long after her shop closed in 2014. This first auction marks the beginning of a wider dispersal of her collection, with Part II, including rugs, costumes and further embroideries, to follow later in the year.
For those who value textiles not only as historic artefacts but as living expressions of colour, movement and exchange, this sale offers a fitting tribute to a singular eye.
-
Further information:
Olympia Timed Auction: 19 February – 1 March 2026
Viewing: 22–25 February 2026
-
Pip Rau
-
Image Credits:
Lead: An Ikat Panel, Central Asia. Collection of Pip Rau.
All further images as credited in photo captions.