Fay Butler Fab/Metal Shaping

Fay's Ultimate Library

Oriental Rugs Today
By Emmett Eiland
Published by; Berkeley Hills Books, P.O. Box 6330, Albany, CA 94706
www.berkeleyhills.com
Copyright 2003
ISBN 1-893163-46-6
200 pages, Approximately 200 colored pictures of rugs.
Soft cover, 8.5 by 11 size.
Used copies are very affordable.

Oriental rugs are considered the finest floor coverings in the world. Made by craftspeople individually hand knotting natural died wool yarn to a cotton string warp in a pattern. This tradition is 1000 of years old, without much change. Traditionally women in the Persian regions, to decorate their homes, wove these rugs. The 1980’s saw resurgence in rug weaving using traditional methods. A series of event occurred where natural dies, hand spun wool were rediscovered. Color plates for auction catalogs made available the best rug designs, and the European and American markets embraced these high quality products. As a result of all this, some of the finest rugs ever made became available. Since an oriental rug on the floor is essentially allowing people to walk on the ends of the wool and not the sides, they will last for 150 years or more with normal traffic, under normal care. All of these events have been documented in this book.

The book is broken up into two main parts: 1) Background to the Rugs, 2) The Rugs by Region. There are 11 chapters, with an appendix titled “The Care of Oriental Rugs.”

This book is a comprehensive guide to anyone interested in decorating his or her home this way. They are all natural and the patterns will bring a lifetime of discovering the small details. I consider this book a must for a comprehensive library of all things excellent. It should be the first step to understanding this beautiful art form called oriental rugs.