Oriental Rugs - Overview

Oriental rugs refer to those created anywhere on the continent of Asia. While most people think of Oriental as primarily Chinese, Japanese or any other such far east culture, Europeans generally refer to most of Asia as The Orient. It is that same thinking that applies to Oriental rugs. Any study of Oriental rugs must certainly take into consideration the incredible history and culture of a vast area stretching from the Black and the Mediterranean Seas eastward to the People's Republic of China.

This remarkable area, which many call the cradle of civilization, includes those southern regions which are now part of Russia, plus Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Nepal, Tibet, China, Turkey, Mesopotamia, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Other nations with established rug weaving histories include Egypt and Morocco. Many believe, however, that no rug comes close to the utmost superiority of Persian rugs.  And today, Iran produces more handmade rugs than all other rug producing countries combined. In Asia apart from China and Tibet which produce a distinct series of rugs the cultures of all the other regions are linked by ethnographic ties and, most importantly, by a common religion: Islam.

The development of the art of handmade Oriental rugs and Persian rugs in these countries may be seen basically as an interaction between religious and ethnic structures dating back long before the advent of Islam.  Economic, social, and significant political movements caused by the development of religious beliefs helped shape this art into what it is today. It is safe to define the cultures of the major Islamic countries and regions mainly in terms of a few major ethnic groups: the Mongolians, the Persians, the Turks, and the Arabs; and their spread through the empires of Asia. The most famous designs found in rugs today include the numerous Persian designs, the Turkoman allover designs, the geometric and plain tribal designs, the modern Tibetan designs, and the Indo-Persian designs which are Persian designs imitated in India.

Throughout the continent, Persian designs are often imitated.  However, the quality is different and any rug expert can easily distinguish a genuine Persian rug.  Of course, in Iran, designs of other countries are almost never woven unless by special request for a custom-made rug.

In countries like Afghanistan and Nepal, rugs are woven mainly by nomadic tribes.  Countries like China, Pakistan, and India have modern rug weaving industries combined with tribal pockets.  In Iran the rug industry is modernized though a large percentage of the rugs are still produced by nomads.

Today, almost all of the handmade rugs of the world are made in Asia.  Other countries either don't have the skill to weave such carpets or higher wages for workers make it almost impossible to compete with the prices of Oriental rugs.

It's important to note that any handmade rug is completely superior in quality to a machine made rug because each knot has been individually tightened by the hand of a master weaver.