Tag: Hand knotted rugs

Persian Rugs As Art

Posted on by D F

Oriental rugs are the product of great skill and craftsmanship. For millennia they have been venerated by princes and kings as pieces of fine art. But oddly enough, they are one of the few artistries that can be produced by more than one pair of hands.

Of course, bestselling books have been written by duos, and Rembrandt’s workshop helped with certain paintings, but oriental rugs such as the Spring of Khosrau (a 6th century rug kept in Iraq, woven with silk, gold, diamonds and other precious and semi-precious stones) or the Ardabil carpets (a pair of rugs woven in the 16th century, 17’6″x 36’6″ with 300 knots psi) have stood the test of time and are regarded as exemplary while being crafted by who knows how many hands.

Rug weaving is a relatively thankless job next to the other arts, where individual genius is glorified. Most rug weavers do not sign their name in the rug, and have no way to let their patrons know who they are. For this reason there is a certain mystique about Persian rugs, tied into Eastern philosophy. One does not weave Persian rugs to seek fame, but weaves beauty because it is representative of life’s totality, the good and evil, heights and lows, woven into every experience.

The Relaxation of Oriental Rugs

Posted on by D F

The relaxation oriental rugs provide is a luxury. It makes a big difference when you can sit in a living room with the floor beneath you a blaze of rich color and light. The silk Persian rugs capture and refract the glow from the logs burning in the fireplace. You rest your head against the back of your leather chair, feeling the cold scotch in your hand.

Your friend and confidant of many years is here tonight. You reminisce fondly on years past, the trials and errors of your youth. You sip the gold liquid from the tumbler feeling the warmth penetrate from your fingers to your toes. The fire crackles. Your friend admires the arabesques and floral curlicues in the deep burgundy around the area rugs, glances at the creamy white background the church blues sit on and the vibrant greens leaves that radiate from the center of the Persian rugs.

You become conscious of your pleasure, and it recedes. Your eyes make contact and you break the short silence that grew while the scotch worked. “Good to see you, old friend.”

“Good to be here.” And from the languid way his shoulders hang, and how his fingers splay on the easy chair, you know he means it.

Persian Rugs and the Achaemenid Empire

Posted on by D F

Persia, also known as Iran, was once the political center of the world. The Achaemenid Empire (550-33 B.C.E) held a huge expanse of land, stretching from the Indus Valley to Thrace and Macedon in the north, all the way to present day Liberia in the east. It was the Persian Empire that freed the Jewish people from Babylon, that warred with the Greek city states and that instituted an official language (Aramaic).

Eventually, the empire weakened when the king delegated power to local governors, undermining his own status and causing difficulty in the quelling of local rebellions. This eventually led to Alexander the Great’s reign over the empire. Alexander greatly respected Cyrus the Great, and adopted the Persian technique of proskynesis, or lying prostrate before royalty, into Macedonian culture. Cyrus the Great had huge area rugs, which are said to have dazzled Alexander.

During these peaceful times, the arts flourished, and stone-cutting and carpet weaving became important aspects of Persian cultural heritage. This is when the Pazyryk carpet and others of the world’s oldest area rugs were created. These hand knotted rugs evolved to become world renowned throughout the Ancient and Modern Eras. Today, Persian rugs are still widely known to be the best.

Area Rugs Made With Care

Posted on by D F

So much of what we have in our homes is mass produced. Our furniture and appliances, the food many of us eat, our reading materials and clothing, it has all been made in huge factories by machines. It seems like our society just doesn’t have room for hand crafted goods anymore. Sad to think about all of the work that used to be done by hand just disappearing. All those years of humans developing skillful ways to craft tools, furniture, clothing, could be lost to time.

All this advancement makes the easy availability of handknotted area rugs all the more special and surprising. Crafting gorgeous Persian rugs from hand is tradition and it is an art form but it is also super easy to take home.  Handcrafted rugs are available at most online rug shops. In fact our friends over at 1 800 Get A Rug have a  fantastic selection.

I love to stand on my hand knotted rugs and think about the life of the people who made them. I consider what it was like developing the skills required to knot an area rug that can fill up a dinning room. I wonder where they learned and if knotting rugs is a family tradition. I wonder if I could do that.

Online Rug Shopping

Posted on by D F

I used to hate going to stores and shopping around for big purchases. Especially when those big purchases involved my home design and furnishing. It was impossible to make decisions about those things without making a hundred trips to dozens of different places first. Now I can scan around the internet for whatever I want. What a relief.

I was feeling particularly relieved of shopping duty recently when my girlfriend suggested we get a handknotted area rug for the dinning room. I had never bought a rug before and she seemed so confident in herself. On the internet I was able to bone up on what makes an outstanding area rug as well as shop for one.

There was a time where online rug shopping would have seem like a crazy thing to do. The processes now for receiving and when necessary returning large items ordered on the internet is now so easy though that a major purchase like this can go off with out a hitch. I wouldn’t question the decision to furnish a whole house on the internet, so an area rug is hardly a big deal at all.

After a few hours my girlfriend and I found the perfect one. It looks amazing in our dinning room now and I didn’t have to ride the escalator at Macy’s to get it.

The Ideal Rooms For Area Rugs

Posted on by D F

You know us here at this blog. We love area rugs. Honestly we would put area rugs anywhere. What room is the best for area rugs? Duh, every room! We would throw a few handknotted area rugs in the back yard if it was up to us. Bottom of the pool? Why not?!

Obviously all of that would be insane for people less obsessed with hand knotted rugs than we are. There are certain rooms though that benefit exponentially from the presence of an area rug. The dining room for example. Placing an area rug with the dining room table in the center can be a great way to tie a room together. It creates an awesome pattern that feels very comfy.

Bedrooms also have perfect spaces for area rugs. A smaller one for example in the space not occupied by your essential bedroom furniture(bed, dresser, etc.) is a great way to avoid walking on cold wood floors when running from the bed to the dresser. It can also really make a hallway more hospitable for bare feet.

There are rooms that are simply made for area rugs and then there are those in which you have to get creative. Why not start by slipping an area rug into one of these rooms, we’ll try and convince you of the pool one at a later date.

Wool and Silk

Posted on by D F

About Wool and Silk Pile

Traditionally it is thought that a fine all silk pile rugs are meant for the wall only and an all wool rug is meant for the floor only.  The finest wool rugs for both the floor and the wall often incorporate silk.  Silk is used primarily in two ways in a fine wool rug.

The first way one normally finds silk in a rug is as a “highlight” or “silk touch”.  This will be seen in very high knot count traditional rugs typically.  The silk is used in very small amounts throughout the design to highlight, add an extra dimension, and/or pop to the design.  When looking at the rug in certain light the small silk highlighted areas will shimmer and usually when used like this the touches of silk are white silk making them stick out in the design to a greater degree.

The second way silk is incorporated into a wool rug sometimes is when an entire element of a rug or color is done in silk.  This is seen in both modern as well as traditional rugs.  A design element, for instance a flower or bird, could be entirely carved out in silk within the rug.  This design sometimes will also be depressed or raised (have a higher and lower pile) besides being done in silk so it will stand out even more within the rug.  Besides entire design elements being done in silk certain colors used throughout a rug maybe silk as well.  So a color appearing again and again throughout a rug maybe only done in silk creating and adding contrast throughout the entire rug, instead of just to certain elements.

Whether used as touches or in large swaths, when incorporated into a wool rug, silk can further elevate the originality and complexity already existing within all genuine hand knotted rugs.