TAPETOLOGY
"Tapetology"
is a derived from the combination of a Latin word for carpet and a Greek word for study.
Perhaps it will lend some panache to those wacky eccentrics we currently know as "Rug
Nuts".

I became interested in oriental rugs many years
ago when I replaced the wall-to-wall carpeting in my house. I received quite a
miseducation through well-meaning but uninformed interior designers and rug showroom sales
staff. Frustrated by the lack of information for consumers who wanted a good
overview to help them make an informed purchasing decision, I decided to write my own.
It's my hope that others will benefit from my experiences as a consumer, and later as a
collector and then a dealer.
DEFINITION
First, let's define what we mean when we say "oriental
rug". Most retail rug dealers, and some collectors, make a distinction between
"rug" and "carpet" based on a somewhat arbitrary size, roughly
anything over 6' x 9'. For purposes of definition I use the term to describe a
hand-woven item produced primarily in the Near East to Central Asia. Machine-made rugs of
any sort are not "oriental rugs" in the established sense, but are more
accurately referred to as "oriental-design" rugs (and, for retail
purposes, there's a U.S. law stating that this must be so). So that's distinction
number one.
Within the definition of
handmade oriental rugs, there is also a distinction between decorative rugs and
collectible rugs, though there can be some overlap depending on whom you talk to.
Decorative rugs are what you'll find most of in any department store or retail rug shop,
and they are what most people today mean by the term "oriental rug." Modern
decorative rugs are, in the main, produced in commercial workshops (though they are made
by hand and hence "genuine" orientals) in Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iran, India, and China. The labels on many of these rugs are a study in confusion at
least in an ethnographic sense and are often described according to the Persian
(Iranian) city which the rug's design attempts to typify. For example, a rug labeled
"Sino-Kashan" would describe a Chinese-made copy of a Persian floral medallion
carpet as popularized by the city workshops of Kashan, Iran.

On the plus
side, these mainstream decorative rugs can be beautiful and wear well--certainly much
better than machine-made carpeting. However, these rugs aren't likely to appreciate in
value, no matter what some enterprising young salesperson tells you. Collectibility and
value have much to do with quality of materials (machine- vs. hand-spun wool), dyes
(natural vs. synthetic), and the ethnographic authenticity of the rug and its weaver(s);
most rugs in upscale department stores or interior design shops are made in commercial
factories using chemically-dyed wool in non-traditional colors reflecting modern Western
tastes. In many cases, the designs and techniques that developed over time and have
given oriental rugs their historic value and mystique have been compromised for the sake
of mass appeal.
The commercial
workshops of India, Pakistan, et al arose in part to help fill the U.S. market demand
for handmade orientals when a decades-long embargo made Persian (Iranian)
rugs almost unobtainable. The embargo turned out to be a blessing in
disguise for the carpet industry, because concerns about quality and the
degeneration of the art resulted in a renaissance in new rug production:
Alongside the rigid and mechanical production of Persian copies which is
still unfortunately the majority, there exists a small but growing
percentage of authentically beautiful and innovative pieces which will
please the most discriminating aesthete or rug enthusiast.
The best new carpets
are cottage-industry pieces colored with natural dyes, in designs and colors associated
with the weavers' ancestry and heritage. This quality is not easy to find, but the
rediscovery-of-heritage ethnographic-authenticity movement has been steadily gaining
ground for the past twenty years, thanks in large part to pioneers like George Jevremovic,
Chris Walters, and Harald Boehmer. Granted, if your Sino-Kashan lasts 100 years in good
condition it may be worth something then, because it is handmade... but it's not likely to
have appreciated as an objet d'art. However, for about the same $3500 you'd pay
for a Chinese factory product, you could buy a well-drawn, truly artistic rug made with
natural dyes and hand-spun wool if you know where to look and what to ask for. I
think that's a much better way to spend your money. But I'll bet it won't match your sofa.
CATEGORIZING RUGS
There are
probably as many ways of categorizing rugs as there are people who do it. Rugs are often
categorized by their village of origin, but this can be bewildering since so many
different styles and types of manufacture can be found in a given area, and some villages
don't do any weaving at all but merely serve as a commercial outlet for neighboring
regions. Rugs can also be categorized by design, as illustrated by P.R.J. Ford and
others, but this is often more confusing than enlightening since there was so much design
migration and artistic cross-pollination throughout the Rug Belt.
Historically, oriental
rugs have been divided into five basic ethnic/geographic categories: Turkish, Caucasian,
Persian, Turkmen, and Chinese (from Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia, and
China respectively). I personally lobby for the addition of the rugs of Kurdistan as a
sixth category. Within these broad categories, rugs are often identified by the names of
the city or town of origin (Kerman, Kuba, Daghestan), by broad ethnic or tribal weaving
groups (Qashqa'i, Kurd, Baluch), and sometimes by very specific tribal groups (Shahsevan,
Afshar). Rugs can also be named according to their function, such as the asmalyk
("hanging") or yastik ("pillow"), or by their design motif
such as hatchli ("with a cross"). Thoroughly confused yet?
 One of the more helpful methods
of categorizing rugs is by their type of manufacture, as promoted by Dr. Jon Thompson and
others. These categories include:
- Weavings of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, made in
traditional designs for traditional uses, primarily for the individual and her family.
Designs are executed from memory, often consisting of repeated motifs. These rugs are
constructed on horizontal looms and thus are limited in size.
- Village or "cottage industry" weavings of
settled peoples, made in traditional designs which may be done from memory or from a
prescribed design. Cottage industry weavings often show a degree of innovation and
creativity not found in tribal weavings. The ability to use a larger vertical loom also
increases the range of sizes found in village pieces.
- Workshop carpets, made in both traditional and
commercially appealing designs using a written pattern or "cartoon",
designed for maximum marketability in the West.
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HISTORY
 Rugs, as both functional and decorative
art, have been around for millennia, but surviving examples of early rugs are few. The
earliest knotted carpet, known as the Pazyryk or Altai rug, dates to the fifth century
B.C. and was discovered by Soviet archaeologist S.I. Rudenko in 1949. Art and archaeology
owe many thanks to a group of enterprising grave-robbers in the Altai mountains on the
Siberian- Mongolian border. The Pazyryk rug was found in the burial chamber of a local
chieftain that had flooded and subsequently frozen solid after thieves plundered the grave
shortly after the burial (thankfully, they left the rug behind). The Pazyryk carpet
measures roughly 6' x 5' and is of unknown origin, although nutty and esoteric theories
abound.
Some rug
fragments from the third, sixth, and eleventh centuries survive, but there
is no real continuity apparent between them. The Crusaders of the eleventh
century brought many rugs back from the middle east and were probably
responsible for introducing oriental rugs to Europe. We can trace the
historicity of Turkish rugs from about the fourteenth century, and Persian
rugs from the sixteenth. Most of our knowledge about these rugs comes from
their depiction in paintings of the early Renaissance, where they are often
shown under the feet of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and in later portraits
of prominent and wealthy Europeans. Oriental rugs have been traditional
symbols of holiness and royalty, due both to their cost and their rarity. In
a somewhat ironic turn of events, oriental rugs (products of the "heathen"
Islamic world) were acceptable for adornment of Protestant churches, even
though John Calvin eschewed icons, paintings, and stained glass.
Carpet weaving as an
art peaked in royal court workshops in Timurid and Safavid, Istanbul, Dehli and Agra,
under the patronage of the Persian Safavid dynasty, the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and the
Indian Moghul dynasty, respectively. These court designs benefited from a great degree of
artistic cross-pollination, and some of the hottest debates in the rug world today are
over attribution of rugs of the period, particularly between the designs of Persia and
India. Developing in parallel with urban weaving centers, nomadic and village weavers
continued their centuries-old craft of knotted rugs. Influenced by court carpets, but
restrained by both tradition and function, these tribal and village weavers began a
process of adaptation and stylization while retaining their distinctive flavor.
In the late seventeenth century, oriental rugs
made their way to the American colonies with wealthy families who settled there. In the
eighteenth century, Oriental rugs were first used on floors in addition to their use as
table coverings and wall hangings. The rise of the middle classes in the mid-nineteenth
century fostered a growing interest in knotted carpets, especially after the various
World's Fairs showcased eastern cultures and decorative arts. It was in Europe in the
nineteenth century that oriental rugs were first studied by scholars. The majority of
oriental rugs available today are products of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
After the second half of the nineteenth
century, new materials and dye processes were initiated to speed up the production
of rug making in order to meet the demands of western markets. Although the methods
of production have become more organized and standardized, many aspects of weaving have
remained unchanged to this day.
STRUCTURE AND
DESIGN
I thought this section should start like the famous French recipe for Rabbit
Stew: "First, catch rabbit."
The
Traditional Method. First, shear a sheep. Wrestle the critter, which
outweighs you, down to the ground and denude her of her pelt. Maybe shear a camel
and a goat or two, just for variety. Then, after you've recovered, wash the fleece
to get the dirt, twigs, and eight-legged squatters out, then painstakingly card and comb
the mess so that you have have clean, long, fleecy fibers to spin into yarn.
Next, take your handy drop spindle
and begin to spin the fleece into yarn. (It helps if you can do this while
simultaneously watching children and directing the dinner traffic around the yurt.)
When, after many days of this activity, you've accumulated enough yarn, then start the
process of plying the spun yarns together. When you're done, cook up a nice batch of dried
roots, pulverized flowers, dead bugs, or whatever you're using to make your dye bath, and
soak your yarn in each concoction until it achieves the desired colors. Voila! The basic
materials.
 Now for the
fun part. After setting up your warp threads on the loom (horizontal and portable if
you're on the move; vertical and more or less permanent if you have the space), you're
ready to begin tying your knots onto the foundation. Using design motifs carried in your
head, wrap the yarns around a pair of warp threads. Do this in a horizontal line, knot by
knot, until you've gone across the entire width of the foundation. Then take your weft
yarn, making a pass or two after the row of knots, beat the little suckers down, and begin
the next row of pile knots. Continue this process, making hundredsno,
thousandsof little knots, and at some point in
the process you'll see that you're making a rug.
The Modern Method.
Go to the souk and
purchase the dyed wool you need for your project, or obtain the goods from your workshop
supervisor. Paying close attention to the cartoon or the chanted talim,
make row after tedious row of knots. Produce slight variations on the same designs in
complementary colors to sell at Macy's in matched sets.
Okay. All levity aside, there are beautiful
rugs made with both methods. Neither method is superior in terms of quality or durability;
it's the artistic and ethnographic authenticity that are in question. Quality is
more objective, but beauty is, more often than not, in the eye of the beholder. It all
depends on what you're looking for.
For more information,
and a buyer's guide, please see my
Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) on guildcraftcarpets.com:
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