How Are Oriental Rugs Made?

How Are Oriental Rugs Made? Related Information:

Oriental rugs are weaved on the most basic of looms imaginable. Sometimes even two tree trunks with a few poles stretched between them would serve as a loom to the nomadic tribes of ancient times.

The basis of any oriental rug is made of two types of threads known as the warp and the weft. The warp threads are the ones that are in the north to south direction and the weft threads are the ones that are woven east to west. These weft threads separate each row of knots.

The basis is made on the simple looms, mostly vertical looms also known as the village loom. This type of loom has two horizontal beams, one upper and one lower, which are attached to two posts on either side that stand vertically, thus making up the loom. The lower beam is where the warp threads are rolled around to begin with and then the free ends are all bundled up together and then fixed on to the upper beam.

Irrespective of the loom type, whether horizontal or vertical, every loom enables the warp to be separated into two sets so that they can be reversed after each weft thread is inserted. Once the basis is made, the intended areas are knotted and this makes the basis for the pile of the Oriental rug.

There are about five types of knots used in making Oriental rugs. These are Tibetan knot, Berberian knot, Spanish knot, Turkish knot, and Persian Knot. While the first three knots have been known to be used in the making of Oriental rugs, their use is not widespread and they are used in very few Oriental rugs available. Thus, here we discuss only the last two knots that are most commonly used for all types of Oriental rugs.

The Turkish knot also goes by the name of Ghiordes knot, named after an area in Asia Minor called Ghiordes. The Persian knot is also called the Senneh knot. The Turkish knots are symmetrical and are completely looped and knotted around two warp threads. The Persian knot, on the other hand, is asymmetrical and is looped and knotted around one warp thread and then only looped under the next in line warp thread.

Every knot is done by hand and thus the entire rug may not have the same density of knots in all places. The quality of an Oriental rug is largely ascertained by the number of knots that are present per square inch of rug. About 30-40 knots per square inch translates into a coarse Oriental rug whereas a density of 300 and over knots per square inch means a very fine Oriental rug indeed.

Materials and Dyes Used in the Making of Oriental Rugs

1) Materials: The most common material used in the making of Oriental rugs is sheep wool. Goat wool and camel wool is also known to be used. Cotton had started being used for Oriental rugs in an effort to be more cost effective and also because cotton is a highly strong and durable material. But Oriental rugs made from cotton are not as beautiful as the ones made from sheep wool.

Another material that is used in making Oriental rugs, although not very frequently, is Silk. Silk is a very rich and glossy material, imparting the best shine and finish to any Oriental rug. Because of the fineness of the material, more knots per square inch can be tied with silk, and thus the quality of a silk Oriental rug is incomparable.

2) Dyes: Traditionally, natural dyes obtained from plants and animals, have always been used to make Oriental rugs. These natural dyes impart the rich and vibrant colors to an Oriental rug, which cannot be obtained from any chemical dyes.

Before 1870, only natural dyes were used to make Oriental rugs. But in 1870, there was an introduction of artificial aniline dyes and the nomadic people started using them, as they were more economical than natural dyes. But the synthetic dyes were not even close to the rich colors of natural dyes and thus they came to be banned by a Persian ruler.

After 1920, the use of natural dyes had all but disappeared and in modern times, only synthetic dyes are used in the making of Oriental rugs.