Glossary of Antique Rugs and Oriental Carpets

Wagireh The Wagireh or sampler rug is a template or pattern for the design and production of larger carpets. The size of a scatter rug or mat , they do not show the entire design, but only the basic or fundamental portion of the various larger decorative elements of the field and borders, along with selected individual motifs, which could then be expanded according to established symmetrical repetitions to produce the complete composition.

Warps The vertical yarns or fibers strung on the loom and comprising the foundation of a rug or textile.

Weft faced Tapestry See Kilim technique.

Wefts The horizontal fibers or yarns of a rug or textile passing over and under alternate warps. Wefting may be the face of  tapestry, or spacing foundation in pile rugs and soumaks.

Wilton Machine-made rather than hand woven, Wilton carpets were made in England often following Oriental Persian patterns closely. But they still betray the strong influence of contemporary English Arts and Crafts traditions, not only in the drawing or patterning, but especially in the color tones and juxtapositions. 

Wool A natural fiber derived from the coat of various animals, mostly sheep, goats, and camels, but also alpacas, llamas.