Antique Rugs – The Real from the Fake

Antique rugs are sought after by many people for their own private appreciation, not just by collectors of the art but anyone who appreciates rich cultural history. Yet it is often not easy to detect a fake from an authentic piece of workmanship. Thus it is important to understand where these rugs originated to begin to be able to distinguish between the two.

Antique Caucasian weavings prior to 1800 were discarded by their nomadic owners once they were worn out. Not until these discarded rugs were re-discovered much later by traveling dealers were they appreciated for their original folk art beauty.

It is also important to realize that collectors and museums do not believe in repair or restoration thus if one is faced with an “original” from a collector or a museum gallery that appears to be in perfect condition, it is a sign that something is probably amiss.
The authorities on antique area rugs will only consider preventative measure to prevent further deterioration, not any form of actual restoration. This is done to preserve the original state as much as possible.

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These antique area rugs , pre 1920, are rare but desired due to the sheer simplicity in their overall design, and their inherent historic value. Before this date, the region of Turkey was not yet under Russian rule and the craft was much truer to the actual culture of the time. The influence of the nomadic tribes using these rugs is evident, and helps to identify pieces that are from the region and timeperiod.

Each culture had its own style of construction. For instance, warp and weft were made from natural woods, and the Turkish knots were used in constructing most rugs. Also, those of Muslim descent displayed no animal images on their creations and were usually made to be prayer rugs. The Christians, however, did not have these restrictions and the design was much more liberal. Also, these rugs were usually geometric in pattern and only deviated if the origin was closer to Persia; rugs closer to this country had more rounded shapes in their designs.

There is also specific elements that help to determine the difference between authentic weavings from the country as opposed to those factory-made in the city. Country area rugs were made by women who used whatever materials were at hand. They used hand-made looms and natural fibers; for the weft and the warp they used cotton. The designs were more for themselves and were not found mass-produced. They were usually one-of-a-kind in patterning. The weave tended to be looser than that of a commercially-woven rug and their color choices were much more limited. People from the rural areas used five, maybe six, dyes, maximum in the color palette whereas the city weavers were producing designs for the market as a whole, they used up to ten different colors. Hand-woven rugs also tended to have a border in a geometric design whereas most city rugs were more structured in their patterning.

Finally, it is important to be able to tell between authentically aged rugs and those that have been chemically washed and then hand-painted to appear older. This process began after the 1920's when affluent Americans began to travel to Europe in search of antique treasures. The way to distinguish between an authentically aged area rug and a chemically treated and painted rug is in the coloring of the back. An authentic antique will have a darker back side to the rug due to its lack of exposure to the light; whereas a chemically washed rug washes out both the front and the back of the rug and the painting added to the top of the rug only adheres to the top. So on a chemically altered rug, the backside will appear lighter instead of darker as the authentically aged rugs appears.

So when hunting for that antique area rug, use these tips to help you distinguish between the fake and the authentic and you will spend your money wisely when purchasing that antique heirloom.