A Guide to the Best of Southern California : HANDMADE : Out of Africa

MANY OF THE HANDMADE African area rugs that Derrick May imports seem too beautiful for the floor. But we needn’t despair--he also imports handsome wall hangings, blankets and table linens, all woven by hand by native African women in Lesotho.

The one-of-a-kind tapestries and rugs run the design gamut from traditional to contemporary to ethnic. Made of soft mohair, they may depict village women walking in colorful robes, carrying pots on their heads (“Walking Women,” $800), or an entire village scene, complete with huts, children playing, women doing laundry, and ox carts laden with fruits and vegetables (“Busy Village,” $1,300).

“These rugs and tapestries are made for export, but most of them go to South Africa and Europe, so people here in the States don’t know much about them,” says the South African-born May. The designs displayed in the showroom are always changing, and custom orders are accepted; vegetable dyes are used to match requested colors. Prices ($100 to $2,300) are set by the individual weavers but vary mainly according to size.

African Rugs & Tapestries, South Coast Design Center at Stonemill, 2915 Red Hill Ave., Costa Mesa; (714) 434-9319.