Persian Rugs Fun Facts
Some fun facts about Persian rugs:
* Persian rugs are said to date back 2,500 years and Persian rugs remain a big export earner and employer, with foreign sales of $635 million in 2005, most Persian rugs being hand-woven, according to the state Persian Carpet Company.
* Persian rugs are made of wool, silk or cotton, or a combination of the three.
It can take weavers of Persian rugs months or even years to make a large, top-quality persian carpet with intricate floral and other designs. Some Persian rugs use natural dyes derived from plants, the weavers of Persian rugs are traditionally women.
* Famous Persian rug regions include the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan, Isfahan in central iran (formerly Persia) and Kerman in the country’s southeast. Persian rugs have different styles regionally. Prices for Persian rugs can range from a few hundred to many millions of U.S. dollars.
* Flying, or magical, Persian carpets have long been the stuff of legend and literature in the Middle East, famously featuring in the tales in One Thousand and One Nights believed to have been collected in the 9th century.
* The Iran Carpet Company in July claimed to have made the world’s largest hand-woven Persian carpet: at 5,600 sq metres, for a large mosque in the United Arab Emirates. Containing more than 2 billion Persian knots, it took weavers two years to make and is reportedly valued at $5.8 million.
* A 17th century Persian rug sold for over $30,000,000 at Sotheby’s in 2013.
* Silk Persian rugs can have as many as 1,200 knots per square inch.
* Silk Persian rugs almost invariably sell for thousands of dollars, regardless of size.
* Qum, Isphahan, and Tabriz are cities best well known for Persian silk rugs.
* Persian silk rugs are made with true silk, not faux silk as sometimes found in rugs from other countries
* Silk as used in Persian silk rugs is extremely strong. Were a strand to be the diameter of a pen it could lift a jumbo jet.
* A 400 year old Persian silk rug sold for $4,450,500 at Christie’s auction house.
