December 2007 Archive

• Dyes and Wool, Emmett's Oriental Rug Book

  Natural Dyes and Synthetic Dyes in Oriental Rugs

  12.06.07 | 10 Comments

  Wool seeping in a pot of madder dye in Lahore, 1998.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 2
  We have seen that one of the ‘revolutionary’ aspects of modern rug production has been the return of natural dyes. Not long ago, shoppers who were interested in new rugs (or who couldn’t or wouldn’t spend the money to […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Old vs New Rugs

  Old Oriental Rugs vs New Oriental Rugs

  12.05.07 | Comment?

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 1
  Collectors of old rugs don’t like new Oriental rugs, or haven’t until recently, and if they like them now, it is only with reluctance. Interior designers have a similar attitude. They are preoccupied with a ‘look’, and they associate that look with old rugs. But they are pragmatic, and […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Old vs New Rugs

  How Oriental Rugs Are Made Today

  12.04.07 | 2 Comments

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 2
  Most books on Oriental rugs describe how Oriental rugs were made in some distant time — without mentioning that what they describe is an idealized model that no longer applies. The men of the family are said to shear lambs of their wool, which the women then weave into rugs, guided […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, The Renaissance

  The Oriental Rug Renaissance - Recap and Timeline

  12.03.07 | Comment?

  New Turkish kilim, in natural dyes and handspun wool. It was imported by Paul Ramsey of Denver, who takes a hand in designing the kilims he imports.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 1 Part 7
  Summary
  To summarize, then: The renaissance was stimulated by a renewed interest in Oriental rugs that began in the ’60s and increased over the […]