Pure wool rugs are hard-wearing and are far superior to machine spun rugs. Hand spinning is a time-consuming process that breaks down fewer wool fibers, thus producing stronger rugs.
Rugs made with natural fibers like wool and silk are difficult to ignite and burn slowly. Synthetic fabric can ignite quickly and become a safety hazard.
How can you tell if a rug is hand woven?
Look on the back. A hand woven rug shows the same pattern on the back as on the front. Hand tufted rugs almost always have a plain backing or show a glue residue on the back. Some machine made rugs tend to show a hazy pattern on the back. If you are unsure, the hand woven rug is the only one that can be folded in either direction (like a handkerchief): all others must be rolled.
Quality of a Hand knotted Rug
The most important (but not the only) determinant of quality is the knot count. Generally the finer the knot, hence the more knots per square inch, the higher the rug quality.
Hand woven pure silk carpets are known for suppleness, softness and fine workmanship. The number of knots per square inch defines the quality of the carpet. These extremely fine rugs are made in a variety of exotic designs and have very intricate curvilinear patterns.
Rabiah and Baba Company provides rugs of fine quality to enhance the home decor and interior design of the space. On average, it takes 2 weavers almost 6-12 months to weave each silk rug depending upon the size, quality, number of knots per square inch, intricacy of craftsmanship and design pattern.
Traditional Designs:
Talim is the cartoon or pre-designed pattern, whereby the pattern is reproduced on square paper.
Each square stands for a knot with particular color. There are 4 distinctive designs:
1. Medallion: Central medallion dominates the field in a single color or with small designs.
2. All over or Repeat: Dense repeating pattern, has ancient appearance & often based on geometric shapes. Shah Abbas design is a classical design with large floral designs, clouds bands etc.
3. Naturalistic: reproductions of people and animals
4. Niche and tree design.
Borders: meander or the running dog designs are some simple border designs.
Rugs made by hand weaving…
Hand woven rugs are the treasured items of the rug world and are produced using ancient techniques. The traditional designs have unlimited design and color variations and may have investment value in years to come.
Hand knotted rugs are made on a vertical frame called a hand knotting loom. Columns of threads are stretched from the top of the loom. These are called the warp threads and are the foundation of the rug. They also form the fringe ends of the rug and are very important to its longevity.
Once the warp threads are arranged up and down the loom, the actual production process begins. First the weaver begins by making a flat or non pile weave. This is intended to secure the knots which will form the rug from coming out at either end. After 10 -12 rows or more of completed flat weave, the weaver begins the knotting process.
A “cartoon” is a graph paper on which each square represents a single knot tied in a specific color of yarn. The cartoon has been constructed by a master designer who may wish to produce an ancient pattern or create a vision of his own. The weaver ties individual knots in the specified color to the warp threads across the entire width of the loom. This process takes months to complete. Once completed the rug is then “sheared” to produce a uniform surface, hand washed to develop luster and finally dried in the sun for authenticity.
