How to Look at an Antique Rug (Part 2)

PART TWO OF TWO PARTS

By Jan David Winitz,
President & founder of Claremont Rug Company

In Part 1, we discussed how to visually enter into an Oriental rug’s artistic statement by bringing attention to its field design, secondary motifs, and borders. As well as being a visual delight, getting to know an Oriental rug is a tactile experience. Be sure to touch the rug and feel the quality of the wool.

The highest quality rug-making fibers are from Karakul sheep, a breed known to have existed in Mesopotamia as early as 1400 BC. Interestingly, the Karakul’s tail acts as sack holding more than ten pounds of fat (oil), giving the animal the renowned ability to thrive under extremely harsh conditions, produce the richest of sheep’s milk, and yield a high lanolin content for its fleece.

As well as being a visual delight, getting to know an antique Oriental rug is a tactile experience.

Lanolin-rich wool in a rug is remarkably glossy and stain-resistant. Lanolin enters more deeply into the wool’s fibers when walked on and being subjected to light for many decades, creating the legendary patina of 19th century rugs. It also acts as a crystal, capturing light in the dyed yarn strands, giving extra illumination to the colors. The more lanolin in the wool, the more beautiful and long-lasting a hand-woven carpet will be. 

Wool quality also differs dramatically in terms of durability and resiliency depending upon the conditions under which the sheep were raised and from what part of the animal it was taken. Nomads were particularly astute in producing the finest fleece. The wool from their flocks grazing at high elevations in Persia such as Kurdistan and the Caucasus Mountains was highly regarded. There, Karakul grazed the rocky slopes in cool mountain temperatures, growing particularly plush fleeces. Traditionally, this is known as “mountain oily wool.”

After touching a rug’s surface, stand back and note how all the colors interact. Is the overall effect harmonious? Or do one of more colors disturb the artistic balance? Unlike contemporary art, traditional Persian and tribal rugs are created from a palette that invariably represents the three basic areas on the color wheel— red, blue, and yellow. The most profound rugs, be they Bakshaish or Mohtasham Kashan, Kazak or Tabriz, present an incredibly awe-inspiring range of tonalities that sit together in utmost harmony.  

Unlike the color theory in Western art, for the Near Eastern weaver color was not a science but the result of epiphanies at the loom and the dye pot of over thousands of years. Revering Nature as representative of the divine, they recognized their most successful work came from capturing their experience of it, sometimes symbolically, sometimes evocatively. Western artists are enamored with the chromatic wisdom held in antique carpets. Gauguin once wrote:  “…study carpets and there you will find all knowledge.”

Finally, view at least one corner of the rug from the back. Look closely at the rug structure, consisting of rows of knots woven onto a framework of vertical and horizontal warp and weft foundation threads. A world-class tribal Kazak will always be much more loosely woven than even a decorative-level floral Kashan. Comparing the fineness of knotting is only applicable in rugs from the same region.

By studying and comparing the back of different types of rugs, one can learn a tremendous amount. Information such as size of knots, color of the horizontal weft threads, and whether the surface is flat or ridged can be clues to the exact origin of a rug.

Read Part 1 of “How To Look At An Antique Rug” here.