January 2008 Archive

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Turkish Rugs

  Turkish Rugs: Buying Rugs in Turkey

  01.30.08 | 4 Comments

  Photo by Christiaan Briggs.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 4 Part 4
  Of all the rug-weaving countries in the world, Turkey may be the most fun for travelers looking to buy. Rugs and carpets have been made there for centuries, so travelers find rugs of all ages in the Turkish bazaars and a huge assortment of them from […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Turkish Rugs

  Turkish Rugs: Anadol, I.M. International and the Rest

  01.29.08 | Comment?

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 4 Part 3. See the posts on Woven Legends and the DOBAG project for more about those productions.

  A gorgeous Turkish rug from Anadol with natural dyes and handspun wool pile.

  One of the earliest and best productions from Turkey was created by a Turkish gentleman named Suat Izmirili, who established Anadol Oriental […]

• Emmett Eiland's News

  Odds-and-Ends Sale Feb 1-14

  01.23.08 | 1 Comment

  Friday, February 1st - Thursday, February 14th
  During 38 years in business, we’ve gathered an amazing collection of odds and ends stuck away in trunks and in lofts and storage bins. It’s time for us to let it all go, and we would like to offer it to you first.
  For instance, for years we have hung […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Turkish Rugs

  Turkish Rugs: Woven Legends

  01.22.08 | 2 Comments

  Early Turkish Azeri from Woven Legends. The Weavers were given plenty of latitude to improvise, so something of the weavers’ personalities is visible. If it were not for that, this carpet may well have come off feeling very stiff and rigid.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 4 Part 2
  DOBAG was the start of the Oriental rug renaissance, […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Turkish Rugs

  Turkish Rugs: The DOBAG Project

  01.16.08 | 1 Comment

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 4 Part 1
  The undisputed first mover of the renaissance of Oriental rugs was a German chemist named Harald Bohmer. In 1960 he took a seven-year teaching job in Turkey and, like many Westerners before and since, fell in love with Turkish rugs. He was different, though, in being especially interested in […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Western Influences

  Western Influences on Oriental Rugs

  01.14.08 | Comment?

  Oriental Rugs Today: Introduction to Part 2 (Rugs by Region)

  Turkmen rug dealers and friends in Islamabad, Pakistan, 1989.

  The following chapters are comprised of discussions and critiques of new Oriental rugs found in the market today, country by country. Stories of a few of the movers and shakers behind them are interspersed. These are interesting people […]

• Emmett's Oriental Rug Book, Oriental Rug Misconceptions

  7 Misconceptions About New Oriental Rugs

  01.10.08 | Comment?

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 6
  Misconception 1: Old rugs have natural dyes; new rugs have synthetic dyes.
  Wrong. Most rugs and carpets in the market now that are considered old were made with synthetic dyes. Some new rugs are now made with natural dyes.
  Misconception 2: Most new rugs are now made with natural dyes.
  Wrong. Only […]

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

  New Oriental Rugs that Look Old

  01.09.08 | Comment?

  This carpet is a Fine Rubia produced by Woven Legends, and is about 10 feet by 15 feet.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 5
  Oriental rugs improve with use. Colors soften, the wool pile grows polished and lustrous. Even the nicks and stains old rugs accumulate add character. For at least a hundred years, rug sellers […]

• Dyes and Wool, Emmett's Oriental Rug Book

  Dyes and Spin: Final Considerations

  01.08.08 | Comment?

  For more than half a century it seemed as if the skills needed to weave great carpets were lost forever. But look at this new Bijar from northwestern Iran. In all respects it is equal to the 19th-century Bijars that are prized so highly by collectors.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 4
  For all practical purposes, […]

• Dyes and Wool, Emmett's Oriental Rug Book

  Handspun vs. Machine-Spun Wool Pile

  01.07.08 | 3 Comments

  Turkmen woman spinning wool with a drop spindle.

  Oriental Rugs Today: Chapter 3 Part 3
  Spinning is the process of twisting together and drawing out massed short fibers into a continuous strand. The technique of spinning wool by hand has been known for some thousands of years, and was in exclusive use for preparing the wool that […]