What is the difference between a rug and a carpet?

Size, loosely. Smaller pieces get called rugs in titles, room-covering ones carpets, and the same object is sometimes described both ways. The single most common title word on Sellingantiques is 'rug', used in around a third of them. 'Room size' appears in 110 titles, usually for something around 3m by 2m and up.

How old are most antique carpets?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1960, and nearly two-thirds of the listings that carry a clean year fall between 1880 and 1930. Earlier work thins out fast. The 1870s, 1860s and 1850s together account for a couple of hundred listings, and eighteenth-century pieces are down to a handful, among them a Ghiordes prayer rug.

Which weaves come up most often?

Heriz leads the archive at 437 titles, typically a north-west Persian room-size or small room-size carpet with a medallion or all-over design. Around it sit Mahal, Tabriz and Ziegler, along with Serapi, Bakshaish, Karaja, Sultanabad and Fereghan. Persian attributions overall outnumber Turkmen, Caucasian, Afghan and Turkish ones.

Are woven dates or signatures found on these?

Rarely. Almost every date in the field is an estimate made from the weave and design rather than read off the rug. Two pieces in the sample are exceptions: a Kazak dated 1856 in the weave, and a Karabagh village rug signed by the weaver.

What are chuval, torba and asmalyk?

Turkmen woven bags, storage faces and camel trappings, made by the same households that wove the floor rugs. They were tent furniture rather than floor covering. They commonly reach the market as the decorative face alone, separated from the back. Ensi, mafrash and salt-bags turn up on the same footing.

Are flatweaves part of this category?

Yes. Kilim appears in 128 titles, and soumak, palas and sofreh alongside it. The seam takes in Pirot and Sarkoy kilims and Bessarabian work as well as Persian and Anatolian pieces. It is small against the pile rugs, but growing in live stock.

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Antique Carpets

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Hand-knotted and flat-woven floor pieces from Persia, Anatolia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, China and India, made to cover floors, furnish tents and carry belongings.