The rug market has never been short of imagination in developing narratives to explain carpet formats, structures, or typological labels. One of the most amusing examples of this is the notion that rugs or kilims woven in separate halves sewn down the middle were made as wedding rugs with one half woven by the groom’s family, and the other woven by the bride’s, and the joining of the pieces as a symbol of the marital union itself. In reality, rugs were produced this way because no wider, large-scale looms were available, and the story evolved to explain away the annoying middle seam to potential customers. Nowadays colorful stories like this are only repeated as amusing anecdotes, rather than as a strategy to make a sale. But one of the most groundless origin tales ever dreamed up has proven to be remarkably persistent – the idea that Northwest Persian weavers in the late nineteenth century made a type of carpet called “Serapi.” This is all the more astounding given the fact that today Serapi carpets are among the most expensive and sought after room-size antique Persian rugs.
A serape is a type of Mexican wrap-around garment or poncho, but this has nothing to do with the rugs. In the Persian language Serapi is an adjectival form of Serap, but simply put, there is no such place. There is a village in North Persia called Serab, which is well-known for runners with highly geometric medallions on a natural camel ground, but these are quite different than the carpets commonly referred to as ‘Serapi.’ Serapis are to all intents and purposes a particular type or grade of Heriz carpet - more specifically the highest grade in terms of weave, and very probably the oldest type in terms of age. Heriz carpets are generally coarsely woven with as few as 30 knots per square inch. They also have a deeply depressed warp structure with a markedly ribbed back surface. Since the early twentieth century they have come to make use of light blue cotton wefting. Serapis, in contrast, have a higher knot count, sometimes attaining 80 knots per square inch. Their backs are relatively flat, and they have ivory cotton wefting. Generally they have a softer floppier handle than Herizes, and they are thinner. page 2
