Antique Oriental Rugs

We have divided our galleries into the following:

  • Formal Rugs: These are the city rugs. We include all sizes in this gallery.
  • Room-Size Semi-Formal Rugs: These are the larger cottage industry rugs. The term room-size generally refers to rugs greater than 6' x 9' or greater. Since we have so many Heriz and Serapi rug, we have created a separate gallery for them.
  • Heriz and Serapi Rugs: The bold geometric designs, outlined figure, strong colors make these rugs from Northwest Persia readily identifiable. We have included some Karaja rugs with similar designs.
  • Runners of All Lengths: These are mostly geometric rugs like those identified as Serab, Heriz, Hamadan. However, we also include some formal runners such as Sarouks or Tabrizes.
  • Caucasian, Tribal, and Other Small Rugs: We include here all small nomadic and cottage industry rugs. Since antique rugs from the Caucusus are rarely room-size we include them here.
  • Room-Size Semi-Formal Rugs: These are the larger cottage industry rugs. The term room-size generally refers to rugs greater than 6' x 9' or greater.
  • Chinese Rugs: Chinese follow an entirely different design tradition. We include both traditional Chinese and European-influenced Art Deco rugs in this gallery.

We commonly divide Oriental rugs into those nomadic, cottage industry, and city rugs. The nomadic and cottage industry rugs overlap since many rug weaving ethnicities have people both nomadic and settled. However, both are distinctly different from rugs woven in city workshops. In the nomadic and cottage rugs, often lumped together under the "tribal", the weaver and designer are the same person. In the production of city rugs, a draftsman prepares a knot-by-knot design on graph paper for the weavers to follow. As a result, tribal rugs tend to be more direct . City rugs, on the other hand, are more intricate and may have a wider range of colors.