Know Rugs

History of the Aubusson

The Aubusson rug takes its name from the French town of Aubusson, a small, picturesque town situated close to the mountains of the Massif Central and lying on the banks of the River Creuse. Although this medieval town ceased to produce rugs over 130 years ago, it was at one time the very center of Europe’s rug manufacturing industry. The town continues to host a number of tapestry and rug exhibitions each summer.

The production of Aubusson rugs is thought to have begun in the seventeenth century and was carried out by a group of skilled, independent weavers who each followed the specific design and style of the Aubusson technique. This involves interlacing the carpets using a thick-thread weave on large looms to create a flat tapestry with no pile.

Along with the French Savonnerie style, also dating back to the 1600’s and 1700’s, Aubusson rugs are widely regarded as one of the most significant designs to come out of Europe. Indeed, these carpets and tapestries are so popular that they continue to be reproduced in India and Asia. The Savonnerie carpets of this era were only available to the King who very rarely shared his supplies with others. The demand for similar designs led to the development of the Aubusson rug trade, and for well over two hundred years these designs could be found in the very best houses right across Europe.

General Rug History 

Introduction
     During the past century, the Oriental rug has become valued throughout the world as a work of art. With its rich history and color, the Oriental rug often is called the aristocrat of carpets. Although the Oriental rug of today may not soar through the air like the magic carpet of Arabian legend, the Oriental rug does perform magic, transforming interior spaces into extraordinary spaces.
     The term, Oriental rug, traditionally has been used to describe hand-knotted rugs from the East. The process typically involves stretching warp threads on a loom and knotting the pile to these threads. When a row of knots is completed, a weft thread is inserted. Once the entire carpet is knotted, the pile is shorn. To a large degree, the precision of the design depends on how tightly the rug has been knotted and how short the pile has been cut.
     The rug's density, or number of knots per square inch, can be a useful indicator of the fineness and durability of the rug -- the more knots the better. A superb Oriental rug may have more than 500 to 1,000 knots per square inch.
     Historically, the great carpet-producing areas include Turkey, Persia, the Caucasus and Turkestan. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India and China also must be added to the list. And under Arab influence, Spain, too, has produced hand-knotted rugs of distinction.

History
     Although there are references to carpets by early Greek and Arab writers, just when the first Oriental rug was woven is unknown. In 1949, a Russian archaeological expedition to the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia excavated a royal burial mound that contained a miraculously preserved frozen carpet, Known as the Pazyryk carpet, it was used as a saddle cover for a horse interred in the burial mound. Beautifully designed, the rug dates from the 4th or 5th century B.C. and is the earliest-known surviving example of a hand-knotted carpet.
     One theory is that the technique of knotting carpets was begun by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia. These tribes produced small rugs typically decorated with geometric motifs inspired by plant and animal forms. For the nomad, the rugs were both decorative and utilitarian, serving as floor covers, wall hangings, curtains and saddlebags.
     Because the nomadic carpet-makers were forced to dismantle their looms and move on whenever their security was threatened by natural elements or human foes, their creations may contain irregularities in weave, selvages and design. The wandering nomads are credited with spreading the art of carpet-making to new lands and peoples.
     Some of the greatest carpet-making centers developed in Persia and Turkey. Persian manuscripts from the reign of Chosroes I, the king of Persia from 531 to 579, describe the Spring Carpet of Chosroes. This rug was woven of wool, silk, gold and silver. It was studded with precious stones.
     The period from the 16th century through the first half of the 18th century is known as Persia's golden age of carpet-making. A number of carpets survive from this era and are recognized for their harmony of colors and originality of designs.
     Carpet-making probably has been taking place in Turkey at least as long as in Persia. After his visit in 1271 to the Turkish region known as Anatolia, Italian traveler Marco Polo described the area's carpets, with their geometric designs and animal figures, as the most beautiful in the world.
     Turkish rugs appear frequently in the paintings of well known artists. In fact, German artist Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) painted the geometrically patterned rugs so often that they came to be known in the West as Holbein carpets.
     It was primarily through Italian merchants that the Oriental rug became recognized and valued in Europe. Venice early established itself as a major trading trader with the East. Venetians spread Oriental rugs along their narrow streets, hung the rugs from windows and used them to decorate their gondolas.
     By the early 16th century, Oriental rug collections could be found in the great courts of Europe, including those of Catherine de Medici and Charles V. The Lord Chancellor of England, Cardinal Wolsey, is reported to have purchased 60 Turkish carpets from a Venetian dealer to furnish his palace at Hampton Court.
     Western interest in Oriental rugs waned during the 17th and 18th centuries. But after the great exhibition of 1891 in Vienna, Europeans had renewed enthusiasm for the carpets. Americans soon followed suit. Western importers began asking the carpet-makers to modify dimensions, and sometimes color and design, to satisfy the tastes of Europe and the Americas. In the 20th century, the appeal of the Oriental rug continues to grow.

Bibliography:
Aschenbrenner, E. (1993) Oriental Rugs: Volume 2 Persian. England, Antique Collectors' Club Ltd.
Bacharach, J. and Bierman, I. (1978) the Warp and Weft of Islam The Henry Art Gallery: University of Washington.
Bennett, I. (1972) Book of Oriental Carpets and Rugs. London: Hamlyn.
Black, David. (1996) the Atlas of Rugs & Carpets. London: Tiger Books International PLG.
Bloom, J. and Blair, S. (1994). The Art and Architecture of Islam: 1250-1800). New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Gans-Ruedin, E. (1986) Caucasian Carpets. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
Gans-Ruedin, E. (1971) Modern Oriental Carpets London: Thames and Hudson.
Hawley, W. A. (1913) Oriental Rugs: Antique and Modern. New York: John Lane Company.
Mondadori, A (1992) The Bulfinch Guide to Carpets: How to Identify, Classify, and Evaluate Antique Oriental Carpets and Rugs. Canada, Little, Brown and Company (Inc.): Bulfinch Press.
Summers, J. (1994) Oriental Rug: The Illustrated Buyer's Guide. New York, Crown Publishing, Inc.
Zipper, K. & Fritzche, C. (1995) Oriental Rugs: Volume 4 Turkish. England, Antique Collectors' Club Ltd.

Rug Facts

3000 BC: The begining
Nomad tribes start weaving together rugs to make earthen floors warm. They weave the hair from their camels, sheep and goats to form rudimentary rugs.

Sisal
Sisal is a fiber made from the Sisalana plant. It is the strongest material for natural fiber rugs.

Erastus Bigelow's power loom
Until about 1840 all carpets were made on handlooms with such devices and improvements as could be operated by hand or foot power; then Erastus Bigelow's power loom (first used in 1841), which made it possible for carpets to be mass produced, revolutionized the industry. Although handmade rugs are still produced in some countries, e.g., Turkey, carpet manufacturing has become a highly mechanized industry, notably in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, and Japan.

Tabriz
Tabriz is a city in Iran that is known for its amazing rugs that feature a border with a curvilinear pattern in the central field and a medallion in the middle of the rug. Because this region is so well known for this style of Iranian rug and because it sells well, rug makers from other regions adapt the design principles of Tabriz rugs and apply them to other hand-tufted or machine-made rugs. A rug named Tabriz can either be an authentic rug made in Tabriz, or it is a rug made somewhere else, but inspired by the Tabriz design.

Hand Knotted Rugs
Wool, silk and cotton are the three primary materials that are used to make a hand-knotted rug. Wool is the most used material. New Zealand and South Korean wools are often mixed with local wools because they have more lanolin, which adds sheen, strength and suppleness. Silk is used primarily for accent because it is not as strong and is more expensive. Cotton is sometimes used in the foundation, but is not seen in the pile. The combination of these materials makes for an extremely strong rug. 

Early Knots
The earliest group of surviving knotted pile carpets were produced under Seljuk rule, in the first half of the 13th century, on the Anatolian peninsula. The eighteen extant works are often referred to as the Konya Carpets. The central field of these large carpets is an overall geometric repeat pattern. The borders are ornamented with a large-scale, stylized, angular calligraphy called Kufic, pseudo-Kufic, or Kufesque. 

Soumak Rugs
A flat weave, pileless rug woven from a technique that produces a herringbone effect. This special weaving technique is also known as weft wrapping. Soumaks generally have a mixed cotton and wool foundation with geometric and brightly colored designs. This weaving method is also used to produce storage bags, cradles, and other every-day necessities.

Hand-Hooked Rugs
A hooked rug is made by hand and is most often made in China. These rugs do not have a pile. Instead small bumps or knots appear on the surface and has the look of needlepoint. Hooked rugs also have a latex backing because they do not have knots to hold the weave in place. Petite point is a more time consuming and detailed version of hooking, making it look like fine embroidery, which puts them in a higher price category. Fine petite-point hooked rugs are made with very small needles to enhance the yarn colors and delicate patterns.

Flatweave Rugs
Dhurrie and kilim rugs are flat woven, meaning that they have no pile. They can be made from wool, cotton or synthetic materials and can be hand woven or machine made. These rugs are usually reversible. The pattern on the front can be viewed clearly from both sides. Strictly speaking, authentic Dhurries are made in India and are made of wool or cotton. Authentic kilims (pronounced ‘Cah-lim’) are usually made in Turkey, China and Egypt, and are made of wool only.

Haji Jalili
Haji Jalili is well known master weaver all around the world especially among high-end antique rug collectors. He made some of the finest rugs in 19th century (1800-1890) in Tabriz. He was originally was from town of Marand (40 miles northwest of Tabriz).

Aubusson
Fine flat carpets woven in France from the 15th to 19th Centuries. They were derived from Moorish weaving with the assistance of Architects and Artists of the royal court. French design flat weave rug normally with a floral center medallion and pastel colors. Originally made in FRANCE as a pileless carpet, usually Aubussons have a floral medallion in pastel colors. The designs of these rugs have also been adapted to pile carpets and are now woven in India and China.