subject: Persian Area Rugs as an Interior Decoration [print this page] Persian Area Rugs as an Interior Decoration
Rugs in the house beautiful, impart richness and represent refinement. Their manufacture was one of the earliest incentives for the blending of colors in such harmony as to please the eye and satisfy the mind; consequently, it is one of the most important of the industrial arts.
Persian rugs are woven on a loom by hand. If made in a small village the loom is usually constructed of wood and not perfectly straight but if made in a professional workshop the loom would most likely be metal and more exactly designed.
The loom is strung with vertical threads, which is the starting point of any wool rugs. These threads are called warps and can be of cotton, wool or silk. Tying loops around a pair of the warps create the knots and the design of the rug. Each knot is tied and individually cut by hand. One by one, variously colored strands of wool are used to create the design, one knot at a time, one row at a time.
After one row of knots has been completed, the weft is then inserted between the just completed row of knots and the next one to be done. The wefts function to secure the knots in place and hold the rug together. Some weavers insert only one row of wefts between the rows of knots, others 2, 3, 4 and more.
Hand and loom weaving are still prevalent methods of creating Persian rugs, though mechanized manufacturing turns out more, and less expensive rugs than does hand creation. However, hand weaving developed differently in different regions of Persia, and many people still pass down this knowledge to their children as a means of preserving historical culture.
It is generally believed that modern Persian rugs are not as strong as antique Persian rugs, though many of the hand weaving processes are the same that have been used for thousands of years. The change in quality is thought to be related to the quality of the raw materials available.
