About Antique Carpets

The tradition of woven carpets has existed for many centuries. The oldest surviving carpet, the well known and documented Pazyryk carpet is more than two thousand years old. The weave of the carpet is of such a high quality it is obvious that carpet weaving at that time was a well engineered and highly efficient art. It was discovered in a Scythian tomb in southern Siberia in the 1940s. It has been dated between the fourth and fifth centuries BC.

Each rug produced is very different to the next, both in design and feeling. The knowledge to recognise an oriental carpet and to identify it with its specfic name or origin, is not easy to achieve by reading a book or even by absorbing all the information within this website. The only way to really understand and know carpets is to live with them, too feel and touch them. Although to be able to recognize the difference between say a Caucasian Kazak and a Persian Afshar can be a source of great pleasure.

We mainly deal with antique Persian carpets, although we source rugs from all over the world, including Persia (Iran), Turkey (Anatolia), Russia, The Caucausus (Caucasian), England and France to include, Aubusson, Savonnerie and Tapestries. We also sell contemporary or decorative rugs, the designs of which have been influenced by some of the best known carpet designers of all time, such as Ziegler (Persian) and those made in Agra (India.)

Our gallery in Farnham, on the Surrey Hampshire borders, England, UK opened in 1975 and we also exhibit at major antique fairs in London including the BADA fair (British Antique Dealers Association) and the LAPADA Fair (The Association of art and antique dealers). See our fairs and exhibition section for this years dates.

The main materials of carpet weaving have been the same for centuries, being wool, cotton or silk, wherever possible using hand spun wool and vegetable dyes.
Sheeps wool is the most prominent, yet in the more nomadic areas, goats wool is also used. The foundation of a carpet consists of the warp (vertical, from fringe to fringe) and the weft (horizontal, from side to side). In tribal weaving wool is usually used for the foundation, although in larger towns and workshops, cotton or even silk is used to enable smaller knots to be tied, creating a finer carpet with more intricate designs.

Please use our carpet types section to read about rug origins. Afshar, Baktiari, Bidjar, Bokh ara, Heriz, Hamadan, Isfahan, Karabagh, Kashan, Kirman, Kurdish, Quashgai, Qum, Sarouk, Karaj a, Shiraz, Tabriz, Turkomen, Anatolian, Milas, Kazak, Kuba, Lilihan, Shirv an, Afghan, Baluch, Senneh, Fereghan, Malayer - the list is endless.

We hope this website will help you to discover the world of carpets, both a beautiful and fascinating subject.