The rugs we have on display at Persian Rug Galleries are all created using time-honored techniques that have changed little for centuries. And it all starts with a loom.
It starts with the foundation
Even today, a traditional loom is still used to create the foundation for any new Oriental rug. A vertical foundation of threads (called warps) is stretched from one end of the loom to the other. These foundation threads are usually cotton, which adheres to the wool and creates a sturdy rug. However, some rugs have wool warps, and others are made with silk. The latter are often composed entirely of silk and are often extremely fine and valuable.
Weaving a pattern
Usually the weaver makes several rows of flat weaving before beginning the knotting, which gives stability to the rug. The weaver then begins making the pattern, tying a knot with the appropriate colored wool and cutting it off roughly. A knot is tied around the warp threads all the way across the rug, then a horizontal thread is woven across the top of the knots and pounded down with a comb. Then another row is begun. When a flat weave rug is woven, the horizontal thread creates the pattern.
Patterns from memory
Nomadic rugs are usually woven by women who have memorized certain traditional patterns. They create these patterns as they work and usually vary the pattern slightly as the rug is woven. In villages and commercial workshops, a more detailed drawing of a design is set down on graph paper before weaving begins. Each square in this drawing represents a single knot.
It takes five months
A skilled weaver can tie from 10,000 to 14,000 knots in a day. This is a tremendous amount of work, and on a rug that has about 160 knots per square inch measuring six feet by nine feet, only one inch across the entire width will be completed in one day. To complete the rug, it will take the weaver about five months!
Shearing and sculpting
As rows of knots are completed, they are cut off evenly. A final shearing takes place after the rug is removed from the loom. This is usually done in workshops by specially trained artisans, as a single mistake can ruin months of labor. With some rugs, particularly Chinese, the design is then sculpted to enhance the definition of the pattern.
Washing and drying
The final step is washing the rug, which cleans and adds luster to the wool. The washing and drying is a careful process - one that we follow in our own cleaning plant when it's time to service the Oriental rugs we sell.
- Sy Mahfuz
With excerpts from "The Mystique of Oriental Rugs"
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