News & Information

Written by Joan Guryan
Thursday, 09 November 2006
Twenty years ago, when I first became interested in antique rugs, I was spending my summers in a small rural town in Vermont. I was definitely a novice, though I thought I knew a little more than I did. One of the major events of the weekend was the local auction, at the firehouse.

You always arrived at these auctions early, to preview the auction items, and catch up on the local gossip. You could fine anything from farm implements to fine china. So, occasionally there were antique rugs. While very often these were American antique, such as hook rugs, sometimes there were antique Persian rugs.

One particular auction day, my husband and I arrived early; as we looked around I spotted what I thought was a Sarouk. The rug, though beautiful, with rich blues and reds, did not meet my criteria for buying it. Simply put, I did not love it. Being a novice, I was not sure of it’s value. I was swept away by the excitement of bidding on something I thought might be a treasure. Someone else thought so also. I was approached by a gentleman, who sensed my interest. He asked me if I was interested in becoming his partner on thisrug . I decided that half the investment on something I was unsure of was better than 100%. In hind sight, he probably just wanted me out of the picture, so I would not drive the price up.

Well the gentleman and I bought the rug very cheaply; no one else was bidding seriously on it. We went back to my home to settle up. When I looked the rug over carefully, I decided that not only did I not like it for myself, but it was not such a prize. So I was happy to have Ali buy me out.

I learned a valuable lesson. Stick to my criteria; buy only what I love, from someone I trust. Also, continue search for knowledge about antique rugs.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Written by Joan Guryan
Thursday, 02 November 2006
A rug has many uses, to cover an unpleasant looking floor, to define, a space, to set boundaries in a room. It can be a focus, or bring a room together.

The presence of a rug in a room can be a statement in itself, much like a piece of art on the wall. the choice to own a unique rug with a particular design, or weave says much about a person’s lifestyle, and sense of design.
A rug can be used to warm up a room. It can totally change the mood of a room. Whatever you reason to place a particular rug in a room, you are creating your own unique environment.
Enjoy!!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Written by Joan Guryan
Friday, 27 October 2006

Consider the fact that many Caucasian weavings prior to 1800 were discarded by their Nomadic owners, once they wore out. It was not until these pieces were discovered by traveling dealers, that they were recognized for their folk art beauty.

Museums and some collectors do not believe in repair, or restoration. The most they will consider is the prevention of further deterioration. They feel that even the state that they are in most represents their authenticity in design and weave.

However, if we choose to do more than admire these works of beauty, if we choose to use them as they were intended, than some repair, or restoration is necessary. Then, it is important to find the right craftsman, and obtain good advice on how far to go.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Written by Joan Guryan
Tuesday, 17 October 2006
Antique Caucasian carpets, pre 1920, are rare but greatly desired because of their simplicity in design. This was before the area came under Russia, and it’s rug weaving craft was truer to its culture.

Because these areas were influenced by nomadic tribes, it is harder to determine the exact origin by design. The structure and materials use are a more reliable tool in identification. Generally the warp and weft from natural wool, and a Turkish knot is used.
Carpets using a thicker wool usually came from the more rural mountainous areal, while we can look toward Shirvan, or Kuba for a finer wool. In area populated by both Christians and Muslims, it is easy to distinguish the weaver by religion. Muslims, as it is forbidden by the Koran would have no animals depicted in their carpets; they leaned more toward producing prayer rugs. the Christian weaver did not have these restrictions.

Generally Caucasian rugs are geometric in design. However the closer we move toward the Persian border, the more likely the shapes are to be rounded.

Though many fine Caucasians have been produced after 1920, if you are really attracted to the Caucasian Antique rug, look for the earlier ones.

Popularity: 7% [?]

The area between Shirvan and Daghestan in the eastern Caucasus is Kuba. This area, with its surrounding villages, is the most prolific and justly celebrated source of Caucasus weaving. These days, tourists come to Kuba to see hundreds of apple orchards, which in the spring, fills the air with the scent of apple blossoms. The variety and richness of design and color is so varied and extraordinary that no generalized statement can be made about Kuba weaving.

The area between Shirvan and Daghestan in the eastern Caucasus is Kuba. This area, with its surrounding villages, is the most prolific and justly celebrated source of Caucasus weaving. These days, tourists come to Kuba to see hundreds of apple orchards, which in the spring, fills the air with the scent of apple blossoms. The variety and richness of design and color is so varied and extraordinary that no generalized statement can be made about Kuba weaving.

Kuba was a Khanate of Persia (a Khanate is equivalent to a state or region in the old Persian system). Historians date the transfer of Kuba to the Czarist Russians to 1806. How old then is the city of Kuba? Several different sources state that Kuba did not exist until circa 1750. The United States Embassy, on the other hand, confirms the existence of a majestic 16th-century fortress that dominates the city of Kuba. Nevertheless, this area has been settled for centuries; in nearby Khanalyg, there is a 9th century A.D. Zoroastrian temple.

Many of the dragon rugs and floral designs possibly originated from the Kuba region, which probably have the longest weaving history in the Caucacus. Both of these designs have been attributed by some scholars to a Persian inspiration, while others have suggested a closer link with early Seljuk weaving. The majority of Kuba rugs of the 19th century display crowded floral motifs, either free standing, combined with large geometric motifs, or retained within an allover lattice.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Ancient rugs called Kilims, primarily refer to a type of rug which is flat woven without knotted pile. Because these antique rugs are found across the globe, each region has a different pronunciation and spelling of the name Kilim. Homers Iliad and Egyptian tomb paintings, from the same time period, depict weavers producing rugs and carpets of this kind.

Since this is one of the oldest methods of rug production, it is considered to be primitive compared to Oriental knotted carpets and rugs. Comprised of simple interlocking strands of wool, hair or fiber, they are durable, decorative and used for many purposes. Some of these uses include, clothing, shelter, storage, floor coverings, pillows and barter/trade. Although, antique rugs made of hair or vegetable fiber do not stand the test of time due to decay. Therefore, many antique rugs of this nature have not survived to the present day.

Take a look at our selection of Kilims

Popularity: 9% [?]

CARPET WEAVING IN ENGLAND was now flourishing and around this time Kidderminster was also beginning to become a centre for carpet making. The town had had a weaving industry since the 16th century and Kidderminster carpets are mentioned as early as 1635 in an in-ventory of a bedchamber of a Lady Lettice, though the precise meaning of the word cannot be clear. CARPET WEAVING IN ENGLAND was now flourishing and around this time Kidderminster was also beginning to become a center for carpet making. The town had had a weaving industry since the 16th century and Kidderminster carpets are mentioned as early as 1635 in an inventory of a bedchamber of a Lady Lettice, though the precise meaning of the word cannot be clear.In 1751 Richard Po Cocke, in his Travels through England, mentions that the town was famous for carpets and by 1800 the carpet industry had become the town’s major employer, although the trade was threatened by the Earl of Pembroke’s Wilton Carpet Manufactory. It is known that one manufacturer, John Broom, went to Brussels and Tournai to learn the new techniques, although only two of the many original firms were to survive the technical innovations of the Industrial Revolution later in the century. In 1760 the Royal Society held an exhibition in their Great Room for a fortnight, showing two carpets from each of their leading premium winners-Whitty, Moore and Passavant. Whitty wrote of his success: “These repeated Successes so advanced the reputation of my carpets, that I had a constant and almost uninterrupted demand for many years.”

The fasion of the times was to have the pattern of the carpet reflect the painted ceiling. Thomas Moore, Whittys main competitor was a friend of Robert Adam, who directed business to Moorfields where he could personally supervise the production of his designs. Moore’s factory declined when Adam died in 1792 and was sold for other purposes in 1795.

The other premium winner did not survive either: Passavant does not seem to have made much after 1760 and went bankrupt the following year. However, Whittys Axminster factory continued to prosper. Within five years Whitty had established his factory as a leading concern in the towns economy. It was the custom for the finer completed carpets to be taken to the Congregationalist Church to be spread over the pews for all to admire and for thanks to be offerd for their completion before they were sent to their destination.

On August 13 1783 George the 3rd and the Queen had visited the Factory, which had resulted in a flood of orders. The Crown Prince, later George the 4th, order several carpets, including one for the Throne Room at Carlton House.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Written by Joan Guryan
Monday, 28 August 2006
There are differences between Oriental rugs and carpets woven in the country versus those made in the city. Today many rugs are still woven in small villages, much as they were made for thousands of years, although for the past several hundred years the process has been industrialized.

Did you ever think about the difference between antique rugs woven in the city versus those made in the country? To begin with, the country weaver will use the materials at hand. She probably made her loom and used the wool from her own sheep or those of her neighbors. Perhaps the warp and weft was made from cotton because it was available. Also, it easier to weave a flat and straight carpet on a cotton foundation. She more than likely designed the rug herself, perhaps for her own use, without any intention of selling it. The weave may also be looser compared to that of a carpet produced in the city.

The city rug production was entirely different. Rugs were definitely created for a specific market. Probably one person designed the rug, while hired weavers produced the rug on more commercial looms, made for greater production. The weave was probably tighter, and probably, many more colors were used, or, at least, many more were available.

The country rug probably used no more than 5, or 6 dyes, while the rug produced in the city used at least 10. The country rug was more likely to have a design that was bold and geometric, while the city design tended to be more intricate and highly stylized.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Knotted-pile carpets from Eastern Europe and Russia have for years been referred to as “Ukrainian,” with their flatwoven counterparts being “Bessarabian,” and their precise origins remaining unknown.

Knotted-pile carpets from Eastern Europe and Russia have for years been referred to as “Ukrainian,” with their flatwoven counterparts being “Bessarabian,” and their precise origins remaining unknown. Carpet production in Russia is believed to have begun under Peter the Great (1682-1725) in the Imperial Tapestry Factory near St. Petersburg. Knotted-pile and flatwoven carpets were woven there in the 18th and 19th centuries most often in the court-favored “French” style, please see Sherrill, Sarah B., Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, New York, 1996, pp. 280-289.

Carpet weaving in Russia flourished during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-1796) who commissioned carpets for many of her palaces. These carpets often featured a deep brown-black ground and a dense overall floral design, as in the carpet offered here and that from Leeds Castle in Kent sold Sotheby’s London, 16 October 1996, lot 179.

The floral cartouche design and vivid coloring of the present carpet closely resembles Victorian needlepoint carpets that were produced throughout England and Europe, including Russia, in the 19th century, for two examples see Sherrill, ibid., pls. 117 and 299. The trompe-l’oeil draping border of this carpet recalls those found on the earliest Louis XIV Savonnerie table carpets, illustrating the continuum of fascination with French style by the Russian nobility.

Popularity: 4% [?]

In 1608, King Henry IV of France established weavers in the Louvre. About 20 years later an old soap works, the Savonnerie, near Paris, was converted to carpet weaving, and its name remains attached to one of the finest types of handmade carpet, now made at the Gobelin tapestry factory. Tapestries for walls and floors were made at Aubusson at an early date.

In 1685 the revocation of the Edict of Nantes scattered skilled Protestant carpetmakers over Europe. Centers of weaving were established in England, first at Kidderminster (1735) and later at Wilton and Axminster. Cheaper, more easily manufactured floor covering soon came into demand, and the making of ingrain, or reversible, carpets began at Kidderminster. The weavers of Flanders had made a loom that produced a pile by looping the worsted warp threads, and this loom, although guarded, was copied by a Kidderminster weaver; soon many looms in England were making Brussels carpet. Axminster was England’s headquarters for imitation Oriental, or tufted-pile, carpet.

Until about 1840 all carpets were made on handlooms with such devices and improvements as could be operated by hand or foot power; then Erastus Bigelow’s power loom (first used in 1841), which made it possible for carpets to be mass produced, revolutionized the industry. Although handmade rugs are still produced in some countries, e.g., Turkey, carpet manufacturing has become a highly mechanized industry, notably in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, and Japan.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Written by Marc Beharry
Friday, 11 August 2006
Featuring the finest carpets and rugs from around the world, the New York International Carpet Show (NYICS) will not disappoint.

New York’s first trade show dedicated solely to importers of handmade Oriental rugs and carpets, will be held in the Gramercy Park Armory on Lexington Avenue at 26th street from September 17-20th.

Organized by renown expert in the field, Dennis Dodds, we can plan to see the latest in contemporary designs, as well as extraordinary antique Oriental and Persian decorative textiles. Some samples of these lovely woven treasures can be found online ahead of time at: http://nyics.com

For more information about attending or exhibiting, please visit their site: http://nyics.com/

Industry professionals are admitted free, so do not forget your business cards. Hope to see you there….

Popularity: 12% [?]