Friday, July 29, 2016

The Origin And Production Of Oriental Rugs

By Ann Russell


An oriental rug refers to a bulk textile normally produced for a wide range of symbolic and utilitarian purposes. The product is predominantly made in oriental countries for export, home use, and local sale. The region within which the production occurs has been given the name Rug Belt. The Rug Belt comprises of a huge region that include North Africa, Northern India, Middle East, and Central Asia.

These products form an integral part of the cultures they originated. The same integration has happened in European cultures and in North American cultures in more recent past. Northern China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Tibet, Caucasus, Maghreb, and India are some of the regions that make up the Rug Belt. People from a variety of religious faiths, nations, racial groups, and cultures are engaged in the production of oriental rugs.

Most of these products are produced in Islamic Nations, a fact that has made them to be referred to as Islamic carpets. Oriental rug is a term only used for convenience purposes. The rate at which the use and preference of the products is increasing is very high. Today, they can be found almost in all corners of the world. In the US, they are consumed by wealthy individuals who have unique tastes.

Production of the commodities is done on a loom by hands. Producers use pile, warps, and wefts, which are predominantly made of natural fibers like silk, cotton, and wool. Representative carpets are usually woven with gold or silver threads within them. Dyeing of piles and yarns is usually done using natural or synthetic dyes. After production, the final products are processed further so that the borders are fastened.

Further processing also entails attaining even surfaces by clipping pile. Dirt is removed through washing. The color of the product is modified by adding chemical solution during washing. The material is a major factor in determining the quality of the final product. High-quality materials cost highly too.

Islamic carpets cost very highly on all markets. The high costs has often attracted fraudulent behavior. Forgers usually use techniques used for restoring mats, replacing knots, or re-weaving sections of mats to make new marts appear older. That way, a new mat seems to be older, hence fetching a higher price on the market. Old mats are usually more valuable and costlier. The forgeries cannot be detected by methods such as radiocarbon dating and chromatographic dye analysis because they use period material.

Because of the forgeries, one should always exercise caution when buying the mats. The rug should be authentic and worth of the price they are paid for. There are various steps that one can take in order to be able to buy an authentic piece without being corned. Conducting extensive research can help to avoid forged products.

There are many different sources from where these products can be purchased. Example of such places are local stores that stock related products. One can also obtain the commodity from online sellers. However, determining the authenticity of any commodity from online sellers can be difficult.




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