The primary materials of Oriental rugs have been the same for centuries: wool, cotton, and silk, to which can be added silver and gold thread, although these have been used only for exceptional carpets, those made for shahs and emperors. The materials used, of course, have always depended on their availability in a given production area and on the requirements the final product was designed to meet. Because of its availability throughout the Orient, wool is the most widely used carpet-making fibber. Sheep wool is preferred, but goat hair has also been used and, in sporadic cases, camel hair, although it is less durable and is particularly resistant to dyes. In antique Oriental rugs and those made by nomads, wool is used for both the pile and the underlying foundation, while in old and modern production it is given only the privileged role of forming the pile.

Being a strong material that holds it shape, cotton is particularly well suited to support the tension applied to the inner structures of Oriental rugs and is therefore used for carpet foundations; it is sometimes used for the pile, but only to create white areas. Requiring cultivation by settled populations or at least organized commercial availability, cotton, unlike wool, is not part of the production of nomads but is normally used in city and village workshops.

Silk is the most costly and precious material because of its softness and shine and also because, being particularly thin, it can be used to make exceptionally fine knots, permitting the creation of highly refined products. Used exclusively by city workshops that specialized in making Oriental rugs on order, silk is used most of all in the pile, alone or combined with wool, to make a particular area of a design stand out. In the past it was also used for the foundations of rare, and decidedly luxurious examples. Wool, cotton, and silk are spun into thread by twisting the fibres, which can be done clockwise or counter-clockwise; by convention, clockwise twisting is called Z twisting and counter-clockwise is called S. Analysis of twisting can help identify Oriental rugs.

The weft strands are usually of the same material as the warp, but they may be more loosely spun and may also be dyed; the presence of dyed weft strands and their particular colours are an important element in Oriental rugs identification.

Colors and Dyes in Oriental Rugs

The next step in the manufacture of a carpet is dyeing the threads, a delicate operation traditionally performed by men. Until 1860-1870 natural dyes were used exclusively; after that date new chemical dyes began to appear, and because of their ease of use and low prices these eventually replaced the natural dyes. Natural dyes, made by master dyers following secret formulas, were composed of substances found in nature, such as saffron crocus, pomegranate skins, or vine leaves for yellow; cochineal (the dried bodies of female cochineal insects), cherry juice, or madder for red, indigo for blue; and nutshells, tobacco, or tea for black and brown. Having obtained primary colors, complementary colors could be created by further baths in two or more colors.

Best-Priced Oriental Rugs

The Loom

The loom is an indispensable tool in the creation of a carpet since it holds the numerous warp strands secure during work. Two kinds of loom are used, horizontal and vertical, and both follow the same principle: they hold the warp strands tight and secure between two parallel beams - always kept at an established distance - to permit the passage of the weft strands and thus the assembly of the foundation.

The horizontal loom, smaller than the vertical and more primitive, is placed flat on the ground, almost in contact with it. Horizontal looms are used by nomadic tribes because they can be easily assembled and dismantled, even when work has begun on a carpet, simply by rolling the part of the carpet already completed. Made small to facilitate transportation, they permit the creation only of medium or small Oriental rugs, for the size of the carpet cannot exceed that of the loom itself.

More complicated than the horizontal, the vertical loom is used by settled peoples in villages and cities for, aside from requiring solid support structures, it is itself a construction with a fixed character. Three kinds are in general use. The first and most elementary has fixed beams and is used to make carpets whose length cannot exceed the height of the loom. The second type, known as the Tabriz loom, has movable lower beam and has the warp strands arranged along a double loom so that the finished work can be slid to the rear. This permits the creation of Oriental rugs that are twice the length of the height  of the loom and also permits the weaver to stay in one place throughout the process. The third type, known as a roller loom, has rotating beams that unwind long warp strands from the upper beam that are then wound onto the lower beam as the work progress, permitting the creation of very wide carpets. Such rollers looms were put to much use in the great  court ateliers of the past.

 

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