Oriental Rug Glossary

For someone who has not devoted their life to creating Oriental rugs, the language that surrounds these elegant pieces of artwork can be hard to understand. However, the value of Oriental rugs is tied directly to how they are made, so knowing the terminology will help you make an educated decision when shopping for a rug. Here is a quick guide to the important terms of Oriental rugs.

All-Over Design: Oriental rugs made in this fashion do not bare a central medallion. Instead, the same pattern covers the entire surface of the rug. Dye: Oriental rugs are colored by many forms of dye. Some are natural (like cochineal which is made out of the dried bodies of insects) while others are synthetic. Knowing what sort of dye was used is essential to understanding the time and place that the rug was created. Flat woven: Instead of using knots, the warp strands are simply passed through the weft strands either by hand or on a loom.

Hand:
How a material or rug feels to the hand - soft, scratchy, dense, etc.

Hand-hooked (also see Hand-tufted):
A hand-hooked rug is one in which yarn is inserted into a backing with a single-needle tufting tool - the tool is held by hand. The tool is often called a gun. The surface is a looped or rounded pile - the ends of the yarn are not cut. After tufting is finished, another backing is attached to protect the stitches.

Hand-knotted:
This type of rug is made by weavers who knot pile yarns around the fibers that run the length of the rug. The more knots per square inch, the more valuable the rug. Hand-knotting is the most intricate, labor-intensive process among ways to make rugs. As a result, knotted rugs take much longer to create and are more expensive than other types of rugs. Using a piece of wool or silk, he or she takes one or two warps in the same row and ties a knot around them. The ends of the knot become the pile of the rug. More knots per square inch result in a more defined, intricate pattern and enhanced durability. Eventually all the knots add up to the beautiful pattern of a hand-knotted rug.

Hand-made:
Made by hand. This includes knotted, hand-tufted, hand-hooked, needlepoint, and hand-loomed rugs.

Hand-tufted:
The method used to create a hand-tufted rug is basically the same as that for a hand-hooked rug. The difference is that after the yarn is inserted into a backing with a single-needle tool, the pile is sheared or cut to create a dense, plush pile.

Medallion:
The medallion is the large, enclosed, main portion of a rug's design, usually in the center. Medallions are usually diamond, octagonal, or hexagonal shaped.

Warp:
The beginning part of the rug where its cotton, wool or silk base is attached to the loom. Warps run the length of the rug and are woven with the wefts to create the stable structure of an Oriental rug.

Weft:
Horizontal strands inserted to form the foundation of the rug. Oriental rugs can be made with single, double, or triple wefts.