What Is A Persian Rug?

Few items capture the charm and mystique of the Orient better than a Persian rug, just like how few things can rival it in craftsmanship. Each Persian rug is painstakingly made by hand, and everything from the fibers to the dyes used is made from organic materials. Striking enough by itself, a single Persian rug makes for a beautiful complement to virtually any kind of decor.

First created in Iran the Persian is perhaps the oldest known rug. At that time it was called the Pazyryk carpet thought. The first one known to be made half a millennium ago. At the time that this rug was made it had 232 knots, that's a lot, over a square inch. With more study it was shown that rugs lost a bit of popularity over the next millennium. Fewer drawings were shown of rugs. Perhaps the best known Persian is the Ardabil, a classic style that showed not only a beautiful arabesque design, but also had a nice poetic inscription on it.

There are different sizes of Persians, just like any other rug. The names for these sizes and the category they go in are as follows. A Persian that is 6 x 4 is known as a Qalicheh. If the rug is larger than that it is in the category known as Qalii. For those Persians that are created by other groups of people such as those that live in Southeastern Europe or Pakistan these will be placed in the Kilim category.

The layout and design of a Persian can be different depending on what is made. These patterns will be on one-side, in the central of the rug, or all over. These designs are on almost all Persian rugs that you will find. These designs may mean different things to different people, it just depends on who you ask on what they mean.

Layout and design are considered together when creating Persian rugs. Patterns can usually range from central medallions, all-over designs and one-sided images. Motifs are a big part of design for Persian rugs, and that much is apparent in almost every rug you're likely to see. Different formal motifs can be interpreted to carry different meanings, though several motifs could be used on a single design.

The weaving of the Persian rug can be a very long process, and one that can take up to years, depending on what size of rug. They are all started by the same process though, this is when wefts will be passed in between a warp, which will than form a base or bottom to the rug. As the process is continued colored knots that are lose will be threaded into those warps. The finished product is a beautiful rug that stands second to none. In the modern Persian rugs there can be up to 550 knots in every square inch.

Persian rugs have been around a long time, and the business is still worth tons of money. With $420 million dollars sent out in 2008. This is a huge occupation over in Iran, it's said that 1.2 million people work to produce these carpets there alone.

Persian rugs remain a premium and classic item for decor, not just because they're attractive themselves but ebecause of the centuries of heritage that they represent. No matter what theme or motif you're doing in your home, a Persian rug will definitely fit in - and stand out - among your decor.

Rug decorating has never been this easy with these rugs. Be sure to take a look at these oriental rugs and in particular these persian area rugs.