Persian Rugs 
One of the best ways to introduce you into the realm of Persian rugs is putting
you in touch with the definition of a rug and to approach little by little to its most important characteristics. Rug
lovers perfectly know what a rug is, but most people don’t. Using simple words we can describe a rug as a piece of cloth or wool which is placed
on floors or walls for decorating purposes but here is much more to say about them.
Oriental rug is the generic label given to
rugs, either knotted or woven, made in small workshops, in large factories or by nomads. Inside this wide category there are subcategories
according to its origin. Persian rugs is one of them, together with Anatolian rugs, Tibetan rugs, Chinese rugs, and many
others from a vast region which includes countries from the Far and Middle East such as China, Turkey and India just to name
some.
Naturally,
evolution and technology have influenced almost every single process in our lives. The techniques to make a Persian rug are
not an exception and they have also become mechanized. However, the tradition of hand woven rugs
has survived through the centuries making it possible to find hand made rugs all over the world. Not surprisingly, the cost of the hand
made ones is higher than the mass-produced ones. The fact that both, hand made and machine made are considered Persian rugs is still a
subject for discussion. It’s widely believed that the genuine Persian rug is the hand woven one.
Persian Rugsare made through a procedure called
weaving, which can last for months and even years if they are handmade products. The basic method used to create hand-knotted rugs is almost the
same as it was thousands of years ago. This kind of rug possess a foundation made of pair sets of yarns (a long continuous fiber made of cotton,
wool, silk or goat’s or camel’s hair), they are called warp and weft of the loom. To put some light over this, the loom is the
device used for weaving and the warp is the series of threads fastened to the loom.
Hand made Persian rugs are considered knotted pile rugs. To make the
pile, knots are tied around pairs of adjacent warps. Between each row of knots, one or more shots of weft are passed through the warp so as to
secure the knotted row. The knot used for oriental rugs is the asymmetrical knot also called Persian or Senneh knot. This kind
of knot has many particularities: firstly, it is fabulous if a delicate and detailed design is required since knots can be packed close together;
secondly, they look like incomplete knots since it wraps around two warps but just one warp is completely encircled; and finally, they can be
wrapped in both directions, that is to say they may be either open to the right or open to the
left.
It is worth mentioning that Persian rugs are one of the most significant manifestations of the Persian art, life and culture
which have lasted for more than 5000 years, surviving through time, wars and empires.
All the characteristics we mentioned, together with its well known
beauty and elegance turn the Persian rug into a unique and precious treasure.
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