ANTIQUE RUG CATEGORIES

The Golden Age of Persian carpet weaving occurred during the Safavid dynasty, when Shah Tahmasp (1524-1587) began establishing court factories for carpet production.  Prior to this time, the production of rugs in the region was primarily a village craft, defined by use of simple rectilinear patterns.  Following the Afghan invasion in 1722, there was a significant decline in Persian carpet production until the late nineteenth century when European demand for Persian rugs contributed to a major revival in the art form.  Antique Persian rugs can be divided into two main categories—city (formal) rugs, which were made in workshops, are known for their finely-woven and often intricate designs, and village rugs (informal), which are widely varied in their unique blends of city and nomadic motifs and techniques.  The most important formal rugs come from Tabriz, Kashan, Kirman, Doroksh, Khorassan, Meshad, Tehran, and Sarouk and the most well-known villages included Malayer, Sarab, Bakhtiar, Bakshaish, Sultanabad, Bibikabad, Senneh, Fereghan, Heriz, Hamadan and Shiraz.  For today’s interiors, city rugs tend to work well in formal settings, such as New York offices or apartments, whereas informal nomadic rugs are often excellent choices for more casual spaces such as rooms in country houses.

Indian carpet weaving was at its height during Mughal dynasty.  The earliest Mughal carpets from the 16th century reveal the heavy influence of Persian carpet weaving traditions, which were brought to India by Persian rug weavers.  However, by seventeenth century, Mughal rug designs had begun to reflect more Indian motifs and had also become more naturalistic due to the affect that European trade had on the arts of India.  Despite the array of influences, the rugs of Agra, Lahore, and Fatehpur Sikri as a whole reflect the Mughals’ great respect for and appreciation of nature, along with their high standards of craftsmanship.  The steady demise of the Mughal Empire was accompanied by a decline in the production of fine oriental rugs that was only revitalized by the British in the nineteenth century.  While the rugs that were made during the late 19th century in India recall Mughal designs, for the most part, they were finely-knotted interpretations of both classical Indian and Persian designs, often in subtle color palettes to cater to European decorative preferences.  The two main cities of late 19th century antique Indian carpet weaving are Agra and Amritsar.  While Amritsar rugs are often whimsical, informal and in soft earthy tones, Agra rugs are frequently characterized by their deeper colors and fine weaves.

Often referred to as “Anatolian”, rugs have been woven in the area of present-day Turkey since the 13th century with the arrival of the Seljuks, who were nomadic tribes from Central Asia.  Rugs from Turkey were first brought to Europe in the Middle Ages and were in such demand that Europeans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries referred to all oriental rugs as Turkey rugs.  In contrast to rugs from Persia, Turkish rugs of the nineteenth century were less sophisticated, brighter in color, more rectilinear, and were more coarsely-woven.  Repeating patterns are rare and prayer rugs with mihrabs in solid colors are common in Turkish rugs.  Of the many weaving centers throughout Anatolia, each created an innately Turkish carpet with a distinct signature style native to its specific region.  Decorative antique carpets from Sivas are often finely-woven interpretations of the classical Persian medallion design and have floral infill.  Hereke rugs often feature luxurious materials such as silk and metal-thread worked into designs emulating the antique Persian carpets of the Ottoman and Safavid Court workshops. Ghiordes, in the western part of Turkey, is known for precisely figured, colorful, multi-bordered antique prayer rugs with open prayer niches, and stylized architectural motifs. The antique Borlou carpet most closely resembles the dramatic scale, informality and pleasing palette of the oriental rugs in nearby Oushak.

Rug production was introduced to Europe by the Moors of Spain between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.  While Oriental rugs initially had a significant influence on European carpet designs, various regions came to develop their own unique styles and techniques over time.  In France, starting in the seventeenth century, factories in Savonnerie and Aubusson began producing some of the most exceptional rugs of the last few centuries.  From 1660 until 1743 Savonnerie was a manufacture royale, carrying out commissions for pile rugs and carpets specifically designed for the Royal Palaces.  In England, high-quality rug production in the town of Axminster in the late 18th century gradually paved the way for the Arts & Crafts rugs in the late nineteenth century when William Morris designed a pattern for an Axminster rug.  

In contrast to the fine rugs produced in major European factories, there were also rugs produced for domestic use, such as the ryas of Scandinavia, which reflect the local folk traditions of the weavers.  Many of the Northern Europeans who immigrated to America brought such traditions with them, leading to the development of the unique American tradition of weaving hooked and rag rugs.  

Decorative oriental rugs and carpets have been a significant art form within the Chinese culture for many centuries, if not for several millennia.  Mostly in blues and beiges, with classical symbols of longevity, elaborate lotus blossoms, chrysanthemums, cloud-band motifs, foo-dogs and birds, antique Chinese rugs are frequently visible in paintings from as early as the T’ang Period.  In contrast to earlier Chinese antique rugs, twentieth-century Chinese Art Deco rugs  can be quite spare in design, catering to modern western or Art Deco taste, and quite radical in color. The most recognizable producer in this genre was Walter Nichols, and American who manufactured art deco carpets in Tientsin.

Rugs produced in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan in the Chinese occupied Autonomous Region of Sikiang are collectively known as Samarkands.  Typically, long and narrow with simplistic spacious designs rendered in a glossy wool, Samarkand rugs frequently employ colorations of lacquer reds, Chinese yellows, heavily influenced by the neighboring countries of China and Turkey and have been produced in this region since at least the seventeenth century.

Bessarabian rugs are a group of nineteenth century flatweaves or kilims made in the mountainous Carpathian region between the Ukraine and Moldova, which reflect synthesis of local folk motifs and designs inspired by eighteenth century French carpets popular at the Russian Court and in aristocratic circles. Both metropolitan and provincial antique Bessarabian kilim rugs are distinguished from Western European urban weavings by less formal designs that manage to achieve an elegant balance between noble and poor, grace and force.

Karabagh is the name of a region in the Southern Caucasus, the capital of which is Shusha, where knotted-pile rugs have been produced since the eleventh century.  Given its situation between the Black and Caspian Seas, bordered by Turkey and Iran, Karabagh has always been a melting pot of religion and culture. Although similar to other rugs from the Caucasus in their coarse weave and symmetric knots, the rugs from Karabagh tend to be the largest.  The most unusual of antique Karabagh carpets are rose-patterned, clearly created in response to Western taste, utilizing geometric pink and red flowers, bouquets arranged in garlands with swags, on grounds of dark blue or black.

Within the past century, the rise of modernism in Europe brought about various new aesthetic systems that often strove to break with the past.  With regard to rug production, this shift can first be detected in the designs of the Arts and Crafts movement in England and Ireland by such designers as William Morris and C.F.A Voysey.  Building off of the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau designers, such as Victor Horta and Sir Frank Brangwyn, designed rugs characterized by the frequent use of plant forms, such as vines, leaves and flowers, which were styled into the shape of objects.  After the taste for Art Nouveau had waned, the Art Deco style arose, which was defined by its streamlined, non-objective designs influenced by the Bauhaus movement.  Two groundbreaking French designers, Jean Michel Frank and Emile Jacques Ruhlmann may be credited with some of the most creative Art Deco carpets and rugs of the age.   Although the Art Deco movement was largely confined to the west, Art Deco rugs were also produced in China, the most recognizable of which are the silk and wool rugs made by Walter Nichols.

In addition to the main categories listed, we also offer a few less common rugs in our miscellaneous category. Within our "Other" category, and also on our Advanced Antique rug search page, we provide you with the opportunity to search for a rug from any region based upon size. If there is something you cannot find within our site please do not hesitate to contact us.