History of Rugs

Introduction

The term “rug” means a thick fabric used to cover a part of a floor area. Rugs have been intricately constructed for ages. They’re older than the personal computer by only a few centuries! Rugs have been regarded with great favor, approval, and affection especially by the general public as a window into ancient Eastern Cultures and traditions. Traditionally designed rugs are just as desireable today as they were when they were originally crafted. Hand-made rugs, espeically, have become a part of every home in Europe as well as around the world. The area rugs are utilized not only for floor coverings, but also for decoration purposes, sofa covers and simply as collection pieces.

Women in various parts of the ancient world learned hand weaving at a young age, and then spent their entire lives constructing area rugs. These rugs displayed different themes. Some rugs told the life stories of important figures from a particular timeperiod. They displayed major turning points such as, birth, adolescence, fertility ceremonies, the accumulation of wealth and even the manner and time of death. These intricately designed rugs took years to build, and became part of a woman’s dowry. They were valuable pieces of artwork.

Later, due to technological advances, new methods were used to develop contemporary rugs and kilims. But those newer, faster methods of creating rugs never compared to the  skill and workmanship a person develops through years of building rugs from scratch. There is just no substitute for a custom-made, handcrafted rug when pitted against the less inspiring, assembly-line method of creation.

Rugs have come a long way.

Suggested Rug Shopping Places

History of Rugs

The first traces of rugs were found in a tomb within the Altai Mountains in the year 1949. This rug is known as the Pazyryk rug, and it was so intricately designed that they believed that rugs weren’t just necessary objects, but that weaving was a creative art. Some archeologists thought the newfound was made in Persia and then imported, while others conceived that it was made somewhere near Central Asia. The remains of those early-found rugs were so intricately stylish, that it gave rise to the idea that this fine art began centuries ago. They could see that rug-making practices improved slowly, developing and taking shape over a long period of time until they reached the status of ‘Structural Masterpiece’ amongst the wanderers of Central Asia. They estimated that the rugs dated back as far as the 5th Century B.C.

Later on, during the 8th and 9th centuries the art of weaving rugs reached the Middle East. It was introduced in India during the reign of Akbar. Since Persian rugs were of beautifully outstanding quality, there were numerous workshops held in India under the guidance of Persian weavers. Based on classic European paintings we learned that oriental rugs were reckoned as luxurious items, which indicated a high economic status of the owner of a rug.

Some time later, a large cottage industry flourished in the eastern countries as the International Markets made ever-increasing demands for beautiful area rugs. Traditional rug weavers couldn’t supply the unending demand, and they were quickly replaced by machines. Many villagers and rural residents took an economic hit, and they were left to fend for themselves. They infused their feelings of loss and abandonment into new rug creations – designed for themselves, not the mass markets. Their new focus to create for themselves or those who regard a high quality rug is why hand-woven rugs have bene making a gradual yet steady revival in the rug weaving industry.

Famous Rugs

The Pazyryk carpet is considered to be the first carpet known to the modern world. Its stunning craftsmanship shocked everyone. Presently, Pazyryk carpet is in The Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, Russia.

Spring of Khosrau: Believed to be a possession of a Persian King, Khosrau I. Currently, it is kept at the Sassanian palace at Ctesiphon, now Iraq. Embedded with wool, silk, gold, silver, precious and semi-precious stones will – it is sure to take your breath away.

The Ardabil Carpets: Pair of rugs woven when Shah Tahmasp of Safavid sat on the throne.

Signature European Styles: Woven specially for palaces, these European styled rugs were produced under the supervision of skilled artists of the royal courts. Due to the interruption during the French Revolution, by the 1870s these rug productions had been stopped in Aubusson.