Glossary of Antique Rugs and Oriental Carpets

A Persian word meaning rainbow spectrum, used to describe changes in color in the pile or facing of rugs and textiles. Abrash resulted from the inability of dying large quantities of wool in uniform dye lots. Eventually weavers began to embrace or exploit such variation as a deliberate effect.

Agra A major center of carpet production in India since the great period of Mugal art in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Agra rugs represent elegant allover designs alongside medallion or centralized patterns. They have the rich pungent palette of classical Indian and Persian carpets as well as soft, cool earthy tones.

Allover A type of design made up of smaller elements that are repeated multiply and symmetrically across the surface.   Allover patterns have the potential of repeating endlessly and seem infinite, without a noticeable central focus.

Alpujarra A type of thick-pile, folk-art rug woven in the South of Spain near Granada, whose origins may go back to the fifteenth century. Designs are geometric, in all over repeat patterns. The pile of the rug is left in uncut loops, with fringe running around all four edges.

Amritsar A distinctive production of Indian carpets from a new, nineteenth-century initiative under British rule. Their designs responded to contemporary Persian production, but with a softer more earthy palette, often with a tendency to burgundy or aubergine tones. rnread more about Amritsar rugs from India

Angora wool A very fine soft, silky wool that comes from the belly of the sheep. Certain Oushak carpets from Turkey are made with pile that uses such wool exclusively.

Aniline A term commonly applied to  early synthetic dyes of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Used to produces various shades of intense red, it faded on exposure to light into pinkish tones or a brownish shade like chop meat.

Antique A term used to designate a carpet or rug at least eighty years old. Rugs between fifty and eighty years old are deemed “semi-antique.” Rugs between thirty and fifty years are “old.” Rugs less than thirty years old are new.

Arabatchi One of the rug-producing Turkoman tribes of Central Asia. Arabatchi weavings are relatively rare in comparison to other Turkomans. Early pieces are highly sought after for their distinctive designs, but later ones tend to have weak synthetic colors.

Art Deco A new movement in modern European decorative arts during the first third of the twentieth century. Carpets of this type include the classic Art Deco of the late twenties and thirties, as well as earlier Arts and Crafts styles like Donegals, and Nichols carpets from China. Carpets inspired by contemporary modern painters of the day constitute the most cutting-edge Deco style. read more about Art Deco rugs