By now, we’ve gone over most of the events that shaped the rug renaissance. If you’ve missed any of the blog posts about it, or just want to refresh your memory, you can read more here. However, there was one more major contributing factor: technology. Overall, the Oriental rug industry is pretty low-tech, but even […]

While the migration of Tibetan refugees to Nepal definitely helped kick start the rug renaissance, there are two other international political events that also played a big role: the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, as well as the civil war that followed, forced […]

In the 1980s, decorative carpets came into fashion. These rugs were formal looking and light in color. Essentially, they were the opposite of tribal and village rugs. Ironically, this change in preference come about just as the Oriental rug industry was finally able to meet the demand for inexpensive tribal rugs. Throughout the 70s and […]

By the 1950′s there simply were fewer new rugs to choose from than there had been in the past. Many of those available to us showed unmistakable deterioration. Oddly, as weaving skills were lost, rug designs often seemed to become more elaborate, resulting in new examples that were crowded and confusing. Materials in rugs suffered […]

Americans and Europeans of a certain stripe have been in love with Oriental rugs for over a century. But we have preferred old rugs to new. Nearly all collectors and many home decorators have perceived a beauty in the soft colors and polished wool of rugs that have been walked upon for decades, and they […]