Is Your Oriental Rug A Tribal Rug Or A City Rug?
December 19, 2015 02:28:15pm
Oriental rugs are often divided into two categories – tribal rugs or city rugs. These rug styles are very different, but whether you prefer bold shapes or elegant curvature, rich colors or muted palettes, there is a perfect Oriental rug for you and your home. We can help you distinguish one style from the other, so that you can identify your own rug, or find the next rug for your bucket list of must-have rugs!
City Rugs
- Famous qualities: City rugs are renown for their elegance, precision, sophistication, and refined qualities
- Common regions of origin: Tabriz, Kashan, Amritsar, and Tehran are all well-known cities that produce such rugs.
- Common design features: City rugs incorporate curvilinear designs, extremely fine weave and detail work, and elaborate patterns, usually botanical or floral in nature. Perfect symmetry is featured throughout the rug’s design, as symmetry was thought to reflect the perfect order of the universe. Pile is generally cut very low in order to showcase the detail of the weave.
- Construction: Each city has its own characteristic set of patterns and colors, which are represented in each of its rugs. These patterns, in turn, can be used to trace the rug back to its city of origin. The design plan for each rug is created by a master rug designer, and consists of sophisticated knot-by-knot instructions. Rugs are woven in a shop by multiple weavers, often under the watchful eye of the master rug designer, who ensures that the plans are followed exactly, and that the quality of work is up to the desired standards. In general, city rugs come from extraordinarily gifted and revered rug designers, highly skilled weavers, large scale operations, and tight quality control.
Tribal Rugs
- Famous qualities: Tribal rugs are coveted for their elemental, geometric patterns and bold colors.
- Common regions of origin: Tribal regions that are known for their rugs include Afshar, Arab Khamseh, Baluchi, Caucasian (from the Caucasus Mountains), Kurdish, and Persian Qashqai, among many others.
- Common design features: Animals, people, and symbols are represented in geometric, block style patterns. Looser weaves and coarse fibers are other earmarks of tribal rugs.
- Construction: Tribal rugs are woven by nomadic weavers who weave as they travel. They were woven on portable looms which were significantly smaller than those used in city rugs and other types of weavings. Therefore, tribal rugs are smaller in size than many other types of rugs. Even tribes who eventually settled in villages used these smaller looms. The patterns for tribal rugs have been handed down from generation to generation, in the oral tradition, often going back centuries. The weavers know the patterns by heart. These tribes often have no written histories, and these rugs retell historic events and express cultural heritage through their patterns and symbolism.
In addition to being highly prized works of art, tribal and city rugs are highly valued for historic and cultural purposes. The weaving methods for both styles of rug have been used for centuries, if not millennia, which adds to the allure of the Oriental and Persian rugs, especially to rug lovers like all of us!
The Best Of The Jacksonville FL Oriental Rug Cleaners
Exquisite Oriental tribal and city rugs call for an exquisite level of care. RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning specializes in delivering this level of cleaning and care for Oriental rugs, and we pride ourselves in being the best rug cleaning service in the region. It’s easy to see why we are the favorite rug cleaning company of homeowners and rug owners all along the First Coast, from St. Augustine, Jacksonville Beaches, and Fleming Island, to Riverside Avondale, Ortega, and beyond. We work with each client to design and customize a rug care regimen that fits the unique needs of the rug, as well as the wishes of the client. We also use rug cleaning methods and systems that are proven to be safe and effective for even the finest threads, richest vegetal dyes, and centuries-old construction. Your rug is safe with us, and you will truly love the results!
