Persian Rugs

To anyone with a small working knowledge of antique rugs, the idea of a pile rug is closely linked with the cultures of what used to be called ‘the Orient’, Persia and Turkey in particular. Floor coverings that were flat-woven, wither tapestries or plain-woven, were in fact ubiquitous in their time. What is now called the Middle East certainly may be have been the epicenter of creation of these rugs (patterns of the Persian Rugs in particular) but it was by no means an exclusively “Middle Eastern” art.

These old rugs in themselves were likely adaptations and improvements upon old animal skins and furs, for keeping dwellings warm and moisture absorption. The entrance to a home may once have been graced with a sheepskin- but between 1,000 and 500 BCE, these slowly became replaced with woven textiles. Shearing animals and weaving rugs out of the material made it possible to harvest the wool yar after year, instead of killing and skinning the animal and basically wasting the resource.

It’s ironic that the intricate artistry of these creations was almost secondary. Once dyes become more widespread, development of patterns using different colors emerged. Variation in density, texture, pattern, and quality emerged.