How Rug Weaving Began: From Nomadic Utility to Court Carpets, Global Trade, and Modern Design

An Overview of the History of Rugs

This part is based on a post by Wilbur Pierce called “Antique Carpet DNA“, originally published on July 15, 2011.

Take a moment and imagine that it is 100,000 years ago. Picture a Neanderthal couple, living in a cave. The couple is decorating their home with paintings on the walls, drawing with charcoal from their fire and red rocks containing iron. They are among some of the first artists in all of humankind. What they wouldn’t know then is that many generations into the future, art would develop and change and eventually, we would make art out of floor coverings, which we now have as antique rugs.

The History of Rugs as a Functional Pieces

In the 5th century BC, a carpet now known as the Pazyryk carpet was woven in what is likely modern-day Siberia. It is the oldest known carpet, and our first glimpse into the beginning of the art of weaving and rug making.

Hundreds of years later the women of Persia, Turkey, and the Caucasus wove blankets to protect from the cold, saddlebags for camels, and textiles for caravanserai, a kind of roadside inn along the Middle Eastern Silk Road. In China, caterpillars were being bred specifically for the fine fiber they produced, more valuable than gold at the time. The silk fiber was spun and woven into rugs for the Imperial Palace and traded along the trade routes of Asia Minor.

In the 8th century, Moorish commander Tariq crossed the Pillars of Hercules into Spain with a vast selection of carpets. This route, later named “Gibraltar”, opened the way for the Iberian carpet industry which eventually migrated into France. Religious and ethnic groups would weave their cultural and religious symbols and stories into rugs, written in Kufic script.

The History of Rugs as an Art

The craft of weaving soon began evolving from one of functionality into a legitimate artform, with textiles adorning the halls of palaces and decorating tent floors. Primitive cave designs transformed into hunting scenes on rugs, depicting what the era’s daily life was like. Design began branching out, with different motifs becoming staples of different tribes and regions. Today we can recognize and differentiate a Khotan, Kerman, Bakhtiari, Aubusson, Agra, or Peking rug.

During Europe’s medieval period, textiles underwent even more changes. The drafty nature of their stone architecture called for insulating wall hangings, thus introducing the tapestry. Carpets, tapestries, and other weavings were status symbols, with nobles often having these textiles interwoven with gold as an elegant display of wealth. In France, a weaver at the Savonnerie was specifically commissioned to create intricate designs on plush carpets to decorate the palace at Versailles. Similarly, the town of Aubusson was founded on providing carpets to the bourgeoisie. Those of the merchant class were more inclined to flat weaves than the pile rugs of the aristocracy.

Middle Eastern designs became increasingly popular among the European elite. Entrepreneurs like Ziegler sent designs to weaving tribes of the Middle East to satisfy the growing demand.

The Impact of the Industrial Revolution

With the exception of a few men who rose to prominence for their talent, weaving was largely considered a woman’s task up until the Industrial Revolution. The rise of mass production made rugs accessible to all classes of people. Design was favored over quality and machine made textiles began replacing handmade carpets.

While newly developed inventions made weaving easier, the ability to mass produce carpets cheapened the market causing an interesting divide. Those with refined taste still preferred hand-woven designs, and with their increasing rarity, these antiques became highly sought after and expensive collectibles. Even to the untrained eye, the difference between a true masterpiece and a mass-produced item is apparent. The beauty in the subtle imperfections of hand-knotted rugs cement their place in real world history and culture.