Oriental Rugs

When my parents emigrated to the United States from South Africa when I was 4, one of the few possessions my mother insisted on bringing was her oriental rugs.  They passed this love of rugs on to me so much so, that on my first trip to the Middle East as a teen,  I brought all of my pocket money to buy a rug of my own.  Some of my favorite orientals are Turkish Oushaks, Persian Tabriz and Tribal Afghan Baluchi Rugs.


Today, almost all textile floor coverings are referred to as "rugs" or  "carpets" without much of distinction made between the two except with respect to the manner of installation (wall to wall carpet vs. an area rug).   When referring to oriental carpets, I always think of oriental "rugs" as smaller than 9 x 6 while "carpets" are those greater than 9 x 6.  It has taken me a long time to come around to modern or contemporary floor textiles -- I have always thought of rugs as an heirloom item that is not disposable like machine made or wall to wall.  I love to layer oriental rugs over sisal/seagrass floor coverings and they still remain a passion of mine despite their not being as popular.


Some of my favorite oriental carpet or rugs are Oushaks from Turkey:

Faded antique Oushak rug layered over seagrass/sisal floor covering in Carol Glasser's  living room (probably sometime in the early 90's) courtesy of Cote De Texas.  

Tom Scheerer with Oushak Carpet

Subdued Oushak in a Bunny Williams Library 

I also am fond of Persian Tabriz rugs:

Antique Tabriz

I also adore Afghans (Tribal) Baluchi (also referred to as Balouch) rugs:

I will post soon about my favorite fun floor coverings.

Cheers!