Antique Rugs

What is an antique rug?

Originally, way back in the 18th century, "antique" denoted Classical Antiquity; ancient Greek and Roman cultural history. In the 19th century, it expanded to encompass anything pretty old, anything not in current use, something historical. The notion of an antique being at least one hundred years old seems to have been formalized around 1900. Antiques were objects made before the Industrial Revolution, by hand and not by machine. But time moves on.

Today, something 100 years of age is the twentieth century and the 1920s are edging into the antique category. It is hard to wrap one's mind around Art Deco as antique when that style was once the epitome of Modern. But everything old was once new. Old is not necessarily better, just old, and quality can happen any time. Art does not take timeouts. "Lost" periods, styles, cultures, and media are constantly rediscovered. This keeps art historians and dealers employed.

An antique rug should be 100 years old by definition. However, a mass-produced rug from 1900, like anything mass-produced with attention given to commerciality and none to culture and craftsmanship, will never be antique no matter how old it gets. There is nothing artistic, no indication of craft attention or ingenuity, nothing speaking of the culture of origin. It is just an old rug that will serve its purpose as a floor covering; there is no soul and there is no tale. But Amoghli Mashads, which are less than 100 years of age, are already considered antique rugs because of its totally authentic design, genuine Persian materials and artistic quality.

There are other rugs that qualify as antiques although they aren't chronologically there yet. These pieces have the intrinsic integrity to age well and carry on the estimable oriental carpet art. Are they antiques-in-waiting or can we consider them as antiques already? [...]

What is an antique rug?

Originally, way back in the 18th century, "antique" denoted Classical Antiquity; ancient Greek and Roman cultural history. In the 19th century, it expanded to encompass anything pretty old, anything not in current use, something historical. The notion of an antique being at least one hundred years old seems to have been formalized around 1900. Antiques were objects made before the Industrial Revolution, by hand and not by machine. But time moves on.

Today, something 100 years of age is the twentieth century and the 1920s are edging into the antique category. It is hard to wrap one's mind around Art Deco as antique when that style was once the epitome of Modern. But everything old was once new. Old is not necessarily better, just old, and quality can happen any time. Art does not take timeouts. "Lost" periods, styles, cultures, and media are constantly rediscovered. This keeps art historians and dealers employed.

An antique rug should be 100 years old by definition. However, a mass-produced rug from 1900, like anything mass-produced with attention given to commerciality and none to culture and craftsmanship, will never be antique no matter how old it gets. There is nothing artistic, no indication of craft attention or ingenuity, nothing speaking of the culture of origin. It is just an old rug that will serve its purpose as a floor covering; there is no soul and there is no tale. But Amoghli Mashads, which are less than 100 years of age, are already considered antique rugs because of its totally authentic design, genuine Persian materials and artistic quality.

There are other rugs that qualify as antiques although they aren't chronologically there yet. These pieces have the intrinsic integrity to age well and carry on the estimable oriental carpet art. Are they antiques-in-waiting or can we consider them as antiques already?

So, why should one buy an antique carpet? What makes it better?

Consider first sheer physical quality. The antique rug is well made, without the corner cutting coming from mass-market pressures. The designers, dyers, and weavers all cared about their creations, even if they were for ultimate sale. The designers intended the rug as a one-off or at least a very small run from the basic pattern; perhaps in different colorways. Hundreds of identical examples from a single pattern to better amortize the design costs is loathed in Kerman, for example, through the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. Consider the current custom rug trade. Designs are always the same rendering only primary and secondary colors of the rug; this would be anathema in the nineteenth and early twentieth century Kerman. Antique rugs were intended to be unique and one-of-a-kind. Tribal and village weavers always add their own personalities to their creations even though they may be working within accepted style protocols. A decline in quality first happens with the design. A well-imagined and rendered antique carpet always displays something to set it off from its sisters.

The dyes of a true antique rug are organic, from plant or insect sources. These dyes are not totally fixed in their saturation, but change over time in response to washing, air, and light. They do not run if properly mordanted. Amazingly, they work together better as the rug ages. Originally bright reds become rustier, blues turn more luminous and yellows settle down. This process occurs naturally, without the intervention of aggressive chemical treatments. But it takes time. A thirty-year-old rug with natural dyes has only begun to change. A sixty year vintage carpet shows obvious signs of mellowing. But it may take a century or more for the dyes to settle into proper antique harmony. So, the next time you see an antique rug with those “odd” striations across the field known as an ‘abrash,’ embrace it; it is a great indication of a true antique carpet, and many interior designers today consider it extremely decorative. Some early aniline-based synthetics either fade out entirely; change undesirably out of hue, usually to dreary brown tones; run like crazy; or never change at all, becoming ever more strident as the natural colors around it transform. The use of synthetics began in rugs in the second half of the nineteenth century, but there are plenty of antique rugs, even from the 20th century with perfectly natural colors.

Antique rugs are well made in other ways as well. The jufti or “cheat knot,” tied over four warps rather than two, gives only half the pile of wool per unit area. Rugs employing it wear out faster, much faster than honest rugs. This plague overwhelmed much of Persian weaving in the latter half of the 20th century. The jufti knot allowed carpet weaving times to be radically reduced and associated labor costs to be cut. A true antique generally avoids such hanky-panky. In Khorassan and Bibikabad carpets, the jufti, Persian or Turkish style respectively, has a long history, and it is to be expected. Elsewhere, it is an obnoxious intrusion. Besides knotting, the wool is also better on most antique pieces. The weavers took pride in their work and only the best available spring clip fleeces were acceptable. No flabby autumn clip, no skin wool pulled off sheepskins at leather tanneries, no mixture of good and bad wool in a rug. Antique rugs were made to last, and properly resilient, elastic, sturdy pile yarn was essential. Furthermore, good wool takes dyes especially well, whereas poor quality yarn may be unevenly dyed or not hold the color as well. Good wool takes on a most desirable patina of age over time and careful use. Foot traffic, especially the barefoot variety, polishes the pile, removing extraneous hairs, flattens the scales of the individual fibers and smooths out variations in the initial finishing, producing a natural luster. This process takes time and although the "luster wash" chemical treatment tries to do in a day what should take a century, it really is only a poor and transient substitute.

Even wear plays a vital part in setting off the antique. Signs of actual, naturally induced abrasion or other condition compromises show that the rug is really old. It has been around the block and proudly shows it. It is not a carpet trying to look old and any distress is real, not artificial. Of course, the best antique rugs often show little or no signs of use at all. American use is not European use is not Persian use. Americans often wear their carpets to oblivion whereas Europeans rotate them in and out of use. In Persia and elsewhere in the Middle East, carpets are a form of savings and a room may be set aside as a stash with a stack of valuable rugs handy in times of financial crisis. No outside shoes in the house, bare feet only. This is another beneficial oriental policy. Rugs age differently in different places. Many antique Caucasian rugs come out of Europe in virtually new condition while in the US top condition pieces are the rare exception. In Europe, they are treasured, but here they were just another scatter rug. However, don’t be afraid of wear. Antique rugs were built to last. Wear is a tale of an antique rug that was preserved through centuries of holy wars, colonialism, and revolutions.

Most of all, antique rugs are honest: honestly conceived, honestly woven, honestly traded. The customer is much more likely to get hustled on a new rug than on an antique. A dealer takes pride in his or her selection of what is thought to be good work. Artistic work. Long-lasting work. Integrity sums up the antique rug. These carpets have endured for a century or more, sometimes much more, and there must be something inherent about them that inspires such longevity and loyalty.

Of course, if a handmade carpet is just something to use up and discard, perhaps the antique carpet is not for you. But you will be amazed how it cleverly adapts to almost any furnishing style, and how you will still have something valuable when you decide finally to pass on, give away or sell an antique.