About rugs, carpets & kilims

The Pazyryk rug is one of the oldest carpets in the world, dating around the 5th century BC and it is now in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Over 2000 years ago, in the Pazyryk Valley located in the Altai mountains where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and...

Often, tribal carpets have a limited number of colours available and the availability of these colours can change particularly with nomadic tribes who would move to different areas. However, in general, the following plants are used to produce certain dye colour ranges....

The wool of the rugs dyed with a natural procedure requires more time To dye wool rugs using vegetable dyes requires more labour force The dyestuff of the vegetable colours is very costly Synthetic dyes are made from either aniline or chrome. Aniline dyes are...

It is because the yarns have variation, called abrash, that creates texture and depth. The subtle changes in shade are the imperfections that give natural colours their subtle charm. If the colour is completely uniform and monochromatic, it is more likely to have been produced...

There is a scientific reason why natural vegetable dyes work well together.  They are not pure colours. Within each natural dye are the elements of all the primary colours. For instance, Rubbia, the mountain rose herb also called matter root, is used to produce brilliant red....

A photographic journey from the visit of Serafetinidis carpets to Nepal!...

Like wool, rug dyes may vary considerably in quality and they may affect the value and desirability of the rug. Until the late 19th century, only natural dyes were used for colouring weaving yarns. Some are rich and saturated while others are soft. Some have...

WOOL There are three fibers that are predominant in traditional rug production: wool, silk and cotton. Most oriental rugs mainly feature a wool pile. Wool is predominant than other fibers because wool has a strong attraction for dye, so colors will remain true and resistant to wear ...