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How Old Does A Carpet or Rug Need To Be, To Be Antique?
Art needs to be 100 years old to be “antique”. Rugs and carpets need to be 80 years old to be “antique”.
Searching and Shopping for Fine Antique Rugs Online
Shopping for antique and decorative rugs online should be easy. This is a no-brainer for internet savvy shoppers. That said, not all rug dealers make finding the perfect carpets easy. Searching and finding that one special rug, that captures your heart, is possible!
Rugs that are fine in quality, are within your reach. We offer a complete world of antique or semi antique rugs. View the best of the best area rugs. Some are from the most renowned weaving centers. Find these phenomenal carpets in person, or searched online.
Enjoy the range – from the 17th century through Mid Century Modern.
400 years of rug and textile history is accessible to you. This selection of fine rugs, is at your fingertips 24/7/365. It, opens a world of design options.
Shopping for rugs and carpets online should be easy. This is a no-brainer for internet savvy shoppers. That said, not all rug dealers make it easy to find the perfect area rugs.
But we make finding that special rug easy. Especially one that withstands the test of time and captures your heart.
Incredible fine antique rugs and textiles are within reach. Nazmiyal Collection presents the complete world of antique or to shoppers. This remarkable collection consists of the best of the best examples. Some are from the most renowned weaving centers. Others are just spectacular pieces of their kind.
View these phenomenal carpets and rugs in person, or searched online.
Find and Shop for Rugs Online by Size, Shape, Style and Origin
The search for ancient carpets is an adventure. It spans many cultures and world history. There are so many historic and modern made carpets available. Narrowing down the scope is key. Find the piece that fits your personal sense of style.
Sifting through an immense catalog of unique pieces is a challenge. This is true for the most experienced collector even. That’s why, we, at Nazmiyal, have invested in technologies and tools. We worked hard to simplify the process. The hope is to make it easier for everyone to find the perfect rug.
You may search by the style rugs, pattern, color, origin or size. Search based on country of origin, size, style, materials and more.
Rug shoppers can even request personal assistance. Our sales staff are here to help. They assist with finding a specific size, shape, budget and so on.
Technology, has made it easy to search for area rugs. We made it is easy to find what you are looking for.
What to Consider When Looking for an Antique Rug
Are you looking to buy older area rugs? Well, if you are, chances are, you’ve got some questions. Lucky for you, that’s just what we’re here for! After all, choosing the right antique rug can be a challenge.
There are countless styles of antique area rugs on the market today. They come in a huge range of quality, size, and origin.
But fret not! While there is a huge variety, not all will be right for your needs.
Some carpets you’ll be able to eliminate straight out of the gate. With others, you may need to spend a little more time considering your needs.
Points to keep in mind when looking for an antique rug:
- What’s my rug budget?
- What size area rug would work best?
- What color rug should I buy?
- Do I want to buy a modern rug or an antique rug?
- Should I buy a durable pile rug or a thinner flat weave rug, like a kilim?
The above are just a few points to think about when buying an antique rug. Keeping a focused approach makes the choice simpler.
The processes of purchasing older area rugs may seem daunting. But don’t worry, things will get easier (and more fun) once the shopping begins!
Remember, our rug site is a great resource for information. It offered you so many tools answers to questions. Once it’s time to start looking for a rug, this should be your go-to rug website!
Antique Area Rugs And Home Decor
Antique area rugs are an impactful interior design accessory. Grand rooms and private spaces can benefit from the addition of old pieces. The soft textures, beautiful patterns and great colors will beautify any home.
Luxurious to traditional and new carpets to vintage rugs. These items function as conversation pieces. From dining rooms to bedroom carpets, an antique carpet, makes a statement. Any room in our home would benefit by adding these older pieces.
Area rugs are available in every size, shape, style and color palette. Top designers and savvy consumers are drawn to these historical pieces.
The Roots Of Antique Rug History
The weaving industry began with the taming of animals. People used the wool that they sheared. They did not have to kill them, just shear them on a regular basis. They could continue to produce wool for future weaving needs.
In many ways, the older ones are a facet of human evolution.
What did people do before they started weaving rugs?
They fist killed animals and used their hides. They used them for warmth and floor coverings. Whatever the skins looked like was what floor coverings looked like.
Once people began to dye the wool, the commercial weaving of rugs began. People produced more colorful products. They used their own unique artistic talents to design them.
Why did people weave area rugs to begin with?
In the beginning, people wove area rugs for personal use. Only later on it became an industry.
Today, the rug industry continues in much the same fashion
What does the term “antique rugs” mean?
As noted above, “antique rugs” are carpets that are at least eighty years old.
Please note that the antique and vintage rugs are few in numbers. They will even become rarer as time goes on.
20th century area rugs
The twentieth century ushered in the industrial era. From this point on, the economy became more global. This resulted in more Western influences in the Middle East. During this period, the uniqueness of the “antique rug” began to wane.
In the early 20th century, economic turmoil began to set in worldwide. As a result, rug productions became more commercial. The prices became less expensive.
This resulted in the degradation of the rug production throughout. Designs, colors and quality took a back seat to “cost”.
The rug companies just looked to lower costs. That’s why, educated rug buyers buy rugs that predate the mass production.
The price of antique area rugs
A little known fact that we would like to talk about is price. Many older carpets are finer quality. Most will be more beautiful than newer ones. But older area rugs, might be, less expensive, than the new ones.
The antiques have unique assets compared to their newer counterparts. For instance, the antiques have a more luminous surface. Especially those with hand-spun wool and natural dyes. New area rugs, won’t have the patina as the antiques.
New rugs have no intrinsic value. Antiques are decorative and potential good investments as well.
City vs Village Area Rugs
Some buyers of antique rugs look for the finer woven examples. These quality driven buyers gravitate towards the workshop city carpets.
These city rug productions tend to boast perfect symmetry. Their colors and design are more likely to be consistent throughout.
Others might appreciate the tribal esthetic of village rugs. Village rug weavers insert willful twists, change of color or pattern. In many ways, the weavers will live on through the antique carpets they created.
An Introduction to the World of Antique Carpets and Older Area Rugs:
The Origin and Evolution Of Antique Area Rugs Throughout History
The history of area carpets and rug weaving is complex. It is one that is fraught with lingering scholarly questions.
The recent history of artisanal rug weaving is well documented. But the older ones were not. Certain areas did keep reliable historical records. But little consensus, regarding the genesis of the craft, exists.
Most people would not know the origins of rug production. But most occidentals associate the earliest ones with the “Near East”.
In Near Eastern countries, rug weaving has been an important cultural practice. But the academics, suggests that the region was not the birthplace of rugs. This is despite its long and ancient history of rug production.
The incomplete historical records hint that weaving developed unaided. A myriad of peoples, worldwide, started weaving carpets on their own. The record is more vague when talking about the history of knotted pile rugs.
Historians established that Near Eastern empires produced rugs. They did so on a more commercial level. But these places were not the first to weave knotted or pile carpets.
The Nomadic Genesis Of Area Rugs
For the genesis of knotted carpets, one must venture into prehistory. That is when most mankind lived a nomadic existence.
Rugs today, function like animal hides did for our nomadic ancestors.
For centuries, nomadic people used animal skins in different ways. That said, it is unclear when people began to sheer the fur and wool. They no longer killed the animals. They transformed the single use of animals to a regular supply stream.
The Animals Who Make Area Rugs Possible
There are advantages of sheering over killing animals. A dead animal yields a finite amount of hide. Shearing animal offers a steady supply of natural fibers.
This was an important insight in the history of human evolution. Our nomadic ancestors had more resources than they used to. The surge in material offered Nomadic people more options. They were able to experiment with wool and other materials.
Dyeing Wool For Rugs
The light color wool, given by sheep, was well suited for dyeing. That is what the earliest rug makers did. Plants, insects and other natural elements are used to make dyestuff.
These colors were then applied to the wool. The colored wool was then used to create the first rugs with patterns. This is when we see the use of local design symbols.
The Birthplace Of Pile Area Rugs and The Story Of The Pazyryk Carpet
The High Altai Mountains of Siberia may be the birthplace of the pile rug. The earliest human inhabitants of this region were, in fact, nomadic.
Unlike their Near East cousins, these people needed new methods for keeping warm. Over time, the High Altai Mountain people invested in rug production. That is why they began adorning their rugs with distinct and symbolic patterns.
Records suggest High Altai people wove pile rugs as early as 600 BCE.
Evidence came from Russian historians. They excavated a pair of locations in the High Altai. Those 2 sites were the tombs of Bash-Adar and Pazyryk in southern Siberia.
Unearthed at Bash-Adar, an exciting find, of a partial pile rug fragment. This simple design rug fragment, was carbon-dated to 600 BCE.
A more headline grabbing discovery came from the tomb of Pazyryk. A pile rug, close to being intact, discovered. The unearthed rug, encased in ice, which preserved it. The ancient rug, the “Pazyryk rug”, dated to the fifth century BCE.
The frozen rug from antiquity time restored in a slow process. This process revealed a remarkable ancient area rug.
Complex detail work appears throughout the remarkable antique carpet. A pattern of squares graces the center. Each of the squares decorated with floral patterns.
Woven into the borders are a series of further floral details. This is in addition to the griffins and the procession of horsemen.
The rug colors are as impressive. They feature shades of red, blue, green gold throughout this remarkable composition.
This is an astonishing level of detail and color. It boasts a fine weaving technique. This led scholars to conclude that it is Persian in origin. And NOT the work of a band of Siberian nomads. It is the source for the academic disagreement. At least as far as the genesis of hand knotted pile rugs goes.
Was the Pazyryk carpet is of Persian origin?
At the Pazyryk site, were a smattering of ancient Persian textiles. The ancient textiles were in addition to the Pazyryk carpet itself.
Does this evidence mean that the Pazyryk carpet is of Persian origin? Or, does it mean the Altai nomads tried to copy something they found beautiful?
There is no agreed upon answer yet. There is evidence, suggesting, the Pazyryk carpet was a local creation.
The deer design, lead some experts, to believe, it was a local production. Since these animals are neither indigenous to Persia. They are uncommon motifs in Persian period textiles. The deer are common in other High Altai region artworks.
The wool and dyes seem to be local to the High Altai region. It adds to the chance that it was a local production. More than likely, by the High Altai Mountains nomadic peoples. Not by the Persians, with whom they seem to have enjoyed trading with.
Examples support the idea that Near East artisans influenced others. Evidence shows it was common for other weavers to imitate the style.
The Dark Ages of Area Rugs
A gap exists between the 5th century and the reemergence of knotted rugs. The ones that date to the fifth century AD (in Roman occupied Egypt).
During this period, rugs came from places like the Caucasus and Central Asia. Record suggests that carpet weaving spread from the High Altai Mountains. To places like China and Tibet. There the craft changed.
The precise genesis of the “area rug” is unclear. The historical records are spotty as well. That isn’t a good body of knowledge regarding the early days of this craft.
We do know that carpets were an important part of human history. The academic world has been fascinated by carpets. This fascination grew since people likely made rugs before they began writing.
Antique rugs represent a unique development in human culture. They offer some of its greatest mysteries and delights.
3 months ago
Twenty or so years ago my father gave me a beautiful antique Persian rug - after so many years (and kids and pets) it needed some TLC, so I brought it to Nazmiyal. I just picked it up today and - wow! They got the stains out entirely and the entire rug is brighter; they also made some repairs - it's back in my living room and looks fantastic, and the bill was lower than I'd expected. Overall it was a great experience - the people are wonderful, the work was perfect, and I saw so many beautiful rugs at their store that I found myself wishing for a larger apartment. Next time I need any work done on a rug, or find an open bit of floor I know where I'll be heading.
4 years ago
It is always a delight going to the Nazmiyal showroom. This Qashqai is one of several purchases made over the years, and mom is truly enjoying it. Jason and the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. They listen to the customeru2019s needs. When I go to the showroom, it is like visiting my family because we have the same appreciation for the textile arts.nnOriental carpets are a rare discipline to be educated in, because you canu2019t go to a university to have certain types of training and experience, such as knowing the cultures and processes of carpet weaving. Jason has such a refined eye that he can distinguish a good rug from a great rug, and that knowledge is offered to the customer to elevate their point of view.nnComing here has been an initiation into a world of culture, art, and beauty which has sustained me, and for that I am grateful.
4 years ago
Loved my runner rug purchase from Nazmiyal. Love the ability to purchase, try and return if it didn't work out! I had it shipped to California and everything worked out beautifully!
a year ago
NAZMIYAL is the best source for antique and vintage rugs and carpets. Staff is extremely knowledgeable, Jason himself is an amazing dealer who handpicks each and every piece in his stunning collection and is happy to educate the consumer, not just make a sale. I always trust his experience and great eye for all my spaces!
4 years ago
I had an absolutely wonderful experience working with Nazmiyal. I was very impressed by their selection, the quality of their beautiful carpets, and their extremely reasonable prices. Really I cannot say enough about how helpful everyone at the gallery was - especially Omri, work with him if you can! - and how happy I am with my new antique rug. Five stars, highly, highly recommended!