Introduction to Rugs

Understanding is one of the first steps toward true appreciation. Thus, the carpet enthusiast needs to learn a little about the materials and mechanics of carpet making before he or she can make an informed purchase or a satisfactory artistic judgement.

It all begins with the shepherd and his flock of highly regarded sheep. After shearing the sheep, many people are involved in making the rug, such as carders, spinners, gatherers of plants, roots and leaves for the dyers, and of course, the weavers. When the rug is complete, it's washed and stretched on the river bank to dry.

Making an oriental rug is a relatively simple craft, but requires months or years of knotting to finish the carpet. Every carpet starts with a loom - a simple frame which gives the base threads the necessary tension to allow knots to be tied on them.

There are basically two kinds of knots, the Persian (or asymmetrical knot) and the Turkish (or symmetrical knot). The Persian knot is also termed Senneh knot and the Turkish knot is, at times, described as the Ghiordes knot. The type of knot is an important identifying feature when establishing an oriental rug origin. When a standard Persian knot is completed, the two warp threads it encloses lie side by side. But, if the weaver pulls harder on one end of the pile thread than the other, this will cause one warp thread to rise above the other. This results in a heavier and more durable pile. Because of the asymmetric construction of the Persian knots, most carpets with high levels of detail in their curviliar designs almost always have Persian knots in their construction.