This is draft 1 of this page, I'll be adding to it over time, if anyone has any images that I could use of examples that aren't up here, please let me know, and I'll be happy to offer a link to your site in return. Enjoy.

If you need more help, feel free to email me at: rich@rimea.net

There are a lot of images on this page, so it may take a few minutes to fully load

Step 1:
Is it real?

The first thing that you need to determine when trying to figure out what kind of rug you're looking at is whether or not it is a genuine handknotted rug, or a machine made piece.
There are a couple of structural components that make it fairly easy to tell the difference.

First, look at the back of the rug, if you can't see the pattern that's on the front, things aren't looking good. A handknotted rug, will most likely have the pattern as clearly on the back as on the front. If the wefts and warps are perfectly symmetrical without the least bit of variation, it may also be time to be wary.

Second, look at the fringes, if they are sewn on, it is getting less likely that you are looking at a genuine piece. In a real handknotted rug, there are no fringes so to speak. They are the remnants of the warps, the tops and bottoms of which were bound to facilitate the weaving. These are left over when the rug is cut from the loom. They form a major part of the rug's structure. Some older rugs have lost their fringes due to wear. It is rare that they would be replaced with artificial ones.

Third, look at the front of the rug, at the design. Is everything perfectly symmetrical? This is a sign of mechanical manufacturing. Usually weavers making handknotted rugs are not desperate for perfect symmetry between the right and left, oftentimes it's not even a consideration, they choose instead to improvise their motifs freely, unfettered by the strict call of absolute symmetry.

Finally, Consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the rug, if it has a very light dishtowel like consistency, if it just doesn't look right, all of these considerations come into play, when determining whether a rug is handmade or crafted by machine.

Here are a few photos of a machine manufactured rug. This is the first rug I ever found at a sale, and initially believed it was real. This was the rug that inspired me to learn about rugs.

 

Step 2:
Formal or Tribal?

These are the two great classifications from which the rest of our conversation will split. On the one hand there are the city carpets. Finely woven carpets with intricate designs laid down by master weavers in workshops throughout the major producing cities primarily in Iran.

City rugs are more realistic in the motifs that they use. That is, the drawing is curved more naturally, when there are flowers, they are more immediately recognizable as such, where there are pictorals, it is the same situation.

Conversly tribal carpets employ more geometry in their designs. Elements are more figuratively represented, animals and people are blockier, and there are more sharp squares and various polygons in the designs.

Here are two examples, from www.jozan.com

City(formal): Isfahan
Tribal: Hamadan

City Rugs
back

 

Step 3:
What City are You From?

If you've determined that you're probably looking at a city rug, the next question is which city. Each city has it's own distinct characteristics, and the aim is to help you figure out what you're looking at, so below are examples of the various city rug types which will link you to other resources that can elaborate on the design and try to confirm your thoughts.

PERSIAN

Isfahan

www.shirazorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Kashan

www.absoluterugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Kerman

www.absoluterugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Nain

www.jacobsenrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Tabriz

www.absoluterugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Qum

www.apersianrug.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Hereke

www.herekecarpet.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Kayseri

www.herekecarpet.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Tribal Rugs
back

Step 4:
What Region are You From?

Tribal rugs, like their urban counterparts usually take their names from the area where they were woven, and sometimes from the nearest major city.

PERSIAN

Abadeh

www.afarstar.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Afshar

www.hortorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Baluch

www.hortorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Bachtiari

www.jacobsenrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Gabbeh

www.gabbeh.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Heriz

www.absoluterugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Karajeh

www.jacobsenrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Luri

www.hortorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Mahal

www.absoluterugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Mallayer

www.jacobsenrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com
JBOC's Notes

Maslagan

www.shirazorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Qasgai

www.hamidcarpets.net

More examples:

JBOC's Notes

Shiraz

(rimea)

More examples: www.jozan.com

Veramin

www.carpetcellar.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

 

Caucasian:

Chi-Chi

www.hortorientalrugs.com

More examples: www.jozan.com

Many thanks to all of the contributors to this page:
For any corrections or comments email me.

www.absoluterugs.com

www.carpetcellar.com

www.gabbeh.com

www.hamidcarpets.net

www.herekecarpet.com

www.hortorientalrugs.com

www.jacobsenrugs.com

www.jozan.com

JBOC's Notes

www.shirazorientalrugs.com

links to my rugs: Arbedil / Baluch / Bidjar / Karajeh / Luri / Qasgai / Shiraz / Hamadan(1)