Few items capture the charm and mystique of the Orient better than a Persian rug, just like how few things can rival it in craftsmanship. Each Persian rug is painstakingly made by hand, and everything from the fibers to the dyes used is made from organic materials. Striking enough by itself, a single Persian rug makes for a beautiful complement to virtually any kind of decor.
First created in Iran the Persian is perhaps the oldest known rug. At that time it was called the Pazyryk carpet thought. The first one known to be made half a millennium ago. At the time that this rug was made it had 232 knots, that’s a lot, over a square inch. With more study it was shown that rugs lost a bit of popularity over the next millennium. Fewer drawings were shown of rugs. Perhaps the best known Persian is the Ardabil, a classic style that showed not only a beautiful arabesque design, but also had a nice poetic inscription on it.
Through writings it is known that these carpets sold very well until around the 16th century. At this time it seems that the choices of people were heading towards a more abstract pattern. Perhaps the best known of the Persian rugs is the Ardabil, which has a poetic inscription and a lovely arabesque design.
There are different sizes that are created for a Persian rug, and each has its own class name. For a rug that is over six foot by four foot, the class is known as Qalii, rugs that are under that size and that size exactly are known as Qalicheh. One other class of Persian rugs is known that is Kilim, which are rugs that are produced in other parts of the world.
As stated above a true Persian is woven by hand, and it is a very long process. Imagine a rug that is huge can take years to make. The base of a Persian is made up of wefts that will pass through a warp to form the bottom of the rug. Than lose knots of thread will be passed through and attached to warps that are adjacent. This is how the elaborate designs appear on the rugs. These rugs now have up to 550 knots per every square inch.
The weaving of the Persian rug can be a very long process, and one that can take up to years, depending on what size of rug. They are all started by the same process though, this is when wefts will be passed in between a warp, which will than form a base or bottom to the rug. As the process is continued colored knots that are lose will be threaded into those warps. The finished product is a beautiful rug that stands second to none. In the modern Persian rugs there can be up to 550 knots in every square inch.
At present, the old industry of making Persian rugs is still a booming business. $420 million worth of carpets were exported in 2008 alone, amounting to 1% of the country’s overall exports. About 1.2 million weavers in Iran alone are thought to be actively producing new carpets, so there shouldn’t be any risk of running out soon.
These Persian rugs add in a nice amount of elegance to a room. It won’t matter what the design is, or what it means as long as you have a Persian it will look great.
If you found this information about decorating with rugs helpful, then you are bound to adore these oriental rugs.
