What Is A Persian Rug?
Everyone knows what a Persian rug is but what it is really, where did it originate, and how was it made when it first came about. When you think of Persian rugs you think of outstanding quality and a craftsmanship that is hard to beat. These rugs are made completely by hand, the weaving and the dying of the materials all done by a person. That alone makes the Persian rug an outstanding thing.
Persian rugs have been made in their namesake region (now Iran) as part of a cultural heritage. The oldest known piece - the Pazyryk carpet - is dated to have come from half a millennium BCE, though Chinese writings only begin documenting the craft at around 200 CE. The Pazyryk carpet had 232 knots per square inch, which is about average by modern standards.
Business boomed for the next millennium and, by the 16th century, much change had happened in the preferences of carpet buyers in the region. Depictions on carpets grew fewer and rarer, with more buyers preferring to get abstract and geometric patterns instead. The best known Persian carpet, the classical style Ardabil, came from this period and featured a radial arabesque design and a poetic inscription.
Size is a very important factor for Persian rugs, and a formal convention is used for them. Qalicheh are those rugs that measure up to six feet by four feet, while Qalii is anything larger than the Qalicheh dimensions. A separate class, Kilim, is used for rugs produced by nomadic groups that live between Southeast Europe and Pakistan.
Layout and design are considered together when creating Persian rugs. Patterns can usually range from central medallions, all-over designs and one-sided images. Motifs are a big part of design for Persian rugs, and that much is apparent in almost every rug you’re likely to see. Different formal motifs can be interpreted to carry different meanings, though several motifs could be used on a single design.
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.
Don’t be ripped off by imitations. Be sure to buy authentic oriental area rugs and persian style rugs directly from an authorized supplier.



