What Are Oriental Rugs?

What Are Oriental Rugs? Related Information:

Because of the name given to oriental rugs, it is commonly believed that they are rugs that come from oriental countries and have oriental designs. But this is not entirely true. The name, Oriental Rugs, has been known to describe rugs from the Eastern part of the world and not necessarily only oriental countries.

Just because any rug has the typical oriental design, it does not become a genuine Oriental rug. The main distinction of a true oriental rug is that it is hand-woven. So if anyone tries to pass off a machine made rug as the genuine thing, then irrespective of how beautiful it is, or how superb the designs and patterns are, it cannot be considered as an authentic oriental rug.

Authentic Oriental rugs have one chief characteristic that cannot be duplicated by any machine made rug. The ‘nap’ of a real oriental rug is attached to the base threads by tying a special kind of knot. And this is typically done by hand and not by a machine. A machine made ‘oriental rug’ will have a nap that is simply stuck between the base threads and the weft threads and not knotted down.

Another very basic thing to look for to determine whether a rug is a real oriental rug is to see the material with which it is made. Almost all oriental rugs are made from sheep’s wool. For economical purposes, some may be made of cotton, while for the true royalty oriental rugs were also known to be made from fine silk. But if any oriental rug is made from synthetic materials such as polypropolene, polyolefin, or other synthetic blends, then it is most certainly not a genuine hand-woven oriental rug.

Oriental rugs mainly come from countries such as Turkey, Turkestan, Persia, and Caucasus. While these countries are considered the greatest Oriental rug producing nations, countries such as India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and to some extent Spain, also produce real Oriental rugs of excellent quality.

Thus, any Oriental rug made in Western Europe and also America is not the real thing, but just a machine made imitation. Rugs that are known to be made in Italy, and also the popular ‘Belgium Oriental Rugs’, are not hand-made and thus cannot be called real Oriental rugs.

A Brief History of the Oriental Rug

To state when the Oriental rug came into being is difficult indeed and when exactly the first rug was woven still remains a mystery. But there has been some mention about oriental rugs in the writings of early Arabs and Greeks. The first known instance of a genuine Oriental rug came about during an excavation of a royal burial grave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. A frozen carpet, known as a Pazyryk carpet, expertly and wondrously preserved, was found in the mound. This carpet dated as far back as 400 or 500 BC and is regarded as one of the earliest known samples of a genuine hand-woven Oriental rug.

Over the centuries, it has been theorized that the nomadic tribes of Central Asia first started the art of hand-woven and knotted rugs, which we now know as Oriental rugs. Due to the nomad nature of such tribes, their art was spread far and wide among other people and nations.

In modern times, an Oriental rug is considered as a special and unique ‘piece of art’ throughout the world. Because of its illustrious history, and its amazing technique, an Oriental rug is often considered as the ‘King of all rugs’. The rich colors, and the mesmerizing patterns of an Oriental rug, have made it a much sought after and valuable commodity among people the world over.