Some of the best rugs we see these days are being woven in the small towns and villages of Afghanistan, a country that has seen war for half a century. We might ask ourselves: who are these people that not only find the courage to endure, but are capable of producing such profound works of artistic beauty?

Many people forget that the Afghans are a people of poetry and art — a people of tolerance and ingenuity whose unique traditions date back over a thousand years. While doing some research for a customer on the Hazara tribal weavers of the Bamyan region, I came across some photos that seemed to capture the beauty of the Afghan people in a way I had not thought possible.
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On June 5th Emmett Eiland’s hosted a Fundraiser party for Jefferson School, a local elementary school in northwest Berkeley. Not only was Mamas, Papas, and Tapas a blast (it featured live latin music, tapas and salsa dancing), but the silent auction raised over $20,000 for the school.

With state budget cuts in effect and more on the horizon, funding for schools like Jefferson is more important than ever. The money raised will help pay for Jefferson’s literacy program, after-school program scholarships, and PE supervision during recess.

“Without this event many such programs would have to be cut from our school,” reads the Jefferson PTA newsletter.

Emmett Eiland’s would like to thank everyone who attended this special event and made it such a success.

Hello from all of us at Emmett Eiland’s Oriental Rug Company. It is Spring once again and that means that soon our homes will be visited by moths – the kind that eat rugs. There are important ploys you can make to help prevent damage. One is to keep your rugs clean (moths prefer dirty rugs). Another is to control your moth population by deploying pheromone moth traps.

Not coincidentally, we are offering fresh pheromone moth traps for sale.

We hope you enjoy your Spring and the wonderful effects of a wet winter.

-Emmett, Natasha, Lew, Sylvette, Richard, Anthony, Jeff, Blair and Dave

Over the course of our September anniversary sale, we gave customers the opportunity to drop their name in hat, no purchase necessary, to win a fantastic dining-room-sized carpet.

We are pleased to announce the winner of the lovely 8′ x 10′9″ fine Pakistani Heriz rug: congratulations Janet Fitzgerald! We hope to see you soon to give you your new rug.

We asked a customer at random (pictured here, not Janet) to pick a name out of the “hat” to determine the lucky winner.

For years we recommended aerosol pesticides to control rug-eating moths. When we learned what aerosol pesticides to to our atmosphere we stopped using them. But for years afterwards we had a terrible time trying to stop moths from dining in the rug store.

Three years ago we tried a new approach — pheromone-bated insect traps especially designed for the moths that eat rugs. It became clear that we had solved a problem that bedevils Oriental rug businesses and anyone else who owns Oriental rugs or even wool sweaters. Last year Emmett and Natasha used them at home with excellent results.

As a customer service we now stock pheromone moth traps and if you have ever had problems with moths, we believe you should consider using them. They come in packs of ten and cost $99 per pack. One trap in each room with wool rugs or other vulnerable woolens should be enough. They can be placed in drawers, under or behind couches and cabinets or on shelves, especially in darkened areas that these moths prefer.

Unused traps may be used the following year if stored properly, bringing the cost for most people to less than $50 a year to prevent most damage to your Oriental rugs — without fouling the air with aerosol pesticides. We think that is very little to pay for year round, non-polluting protection.

The moths you would do well to worry about are tiny things, hardly noticable as they flutter about. Tineola Bisselliella, they’re called.

Carpet moths rarely cause trouble to rugs that are regularly walked on and vacuumed. So don’t worry needlessly.

On the other hand, they gravitate to dark, undisturbed places where they can eat in peace and often they cause really serious damage. They prefer rugs stored in places like basements and closets, but they will settle for Oriental rugs under sofas or beds or where rugs abut walls and are neither vacuumed or walked on and rarely disturbed. Often they chew away at the backs of rugs rather than their fronts.

Strangely, the carpet moth seems to prefer dirty rugs, often avoiding clean rugs.

If you’re interested in proactively protecting your rugs from moths, you might consider using pheromone carpet moth traps in your home.

Up close and personal with the carpet moth, Tineola Bisselliella

A: What you have is a Persian Sarouk from the late 1920s or early 1930s. The piece is very nice and has a somewhat unusual size. Most of these pieces were painted in New York when they came into the country. The American market wouldn’t support the “pinkish” color and the pieces were painted red by immigrant workers. This piece appears to be unpainted, which is also somewhat rare. I’d say that at retail here in this store we might sell this carpet for between $1500 and $1800.

But those of you who aren’t up for reading an entire novel on your computer screen (and I suspect that is most of you) will be interested to know that When a Dragon Winks is now available in paperback form.

Copies can be ordered from Amazon.com or Createspace.com.

Q: We purchased your book Oriental Rugs Today a few weeks ago in Islamabad, our home now for about three months. Thank you so much for putting together a readable, informative guide. It has sparked a deeper interest in buying and learning about how carpets are made.

We would like to know if you recommend certain stores in Islamabad or Lahore. There are many, perhaps too many, stores and it is too dificult to know which one is selling a quality product (we are not allowed to take photographs and have not been found an expert to advise us on quality). Interestingly, the carpet we have found most beautiful is available in only two stores in Islamabad - one is called “Afghani Carpets” that claims to have branches in Karachi and Lahore - and is apparently from Azerbaijan. There may be some confusion in the translation. He does state the “Caucasus mountains” is the area of production. The shade of the carpet changes depending on where you stand in relation to the ceiling lights. We have found on you website a carpet that appears to be similar in patern but different, lighter colors: Azerbaijan Shirvan Rug, Item #31219. Again, we have found very similar versions of this carpet only in two stores that we love very much. However, carpets from the Caucasus region do not appear at the top of your list of recommended countries of origin of carpets. Perhaps we are being mislead? Or perhaps there is a communications breakdown? What are your thoughts?

A: Hi folks- Thank you for your kind words about my book, Oriental Rugs Today. I’m happy to hear that you’ve caught the rug bug. There is no known cure.

Because I deal only with producers, I know of no retailers in Pakistan I can recommend. I am disturbed to hear that you cannot take photos of the rug you’re interested in. Is it the rug dealer who prevents it? What does he have to hide? I would find some way to insist, and then get the photo to us.

The rug you reference in our inventory (#31219) is stunning. If you have found something like it for a good deal less money, and if, like ours, it has natural dyes and hand spun wool, then buy it. Ordinarily the best rugs woven in Pakistan (and elsewhere in Asia) are produced under contract for the western markets and go right to the US and Europe. Typically, they are not released in Pakistan or Turkey or Iran.

Old Caucasian rugs often are wonderful. If we neglected them in Oriental Rugs Today, it is because most new rugs from the Caucasus tend to be sad things. New rugs in Caucasian designs from Turkey can be wonderful.

My advice: Spend only what you can afford to risk in Pakistan, and have fun. Save your serious rug shopping for the US, where you can take rugs home on approval for deliberation.

-Emmett

A: I don’t think the piece is a Sarouk. It looks like an Indian carpet in a Persian Kashan design. This means the carpet is worth about $800-$1200 to you. The best way to sell a piece like this is through Craigslist or a consignment/auction house.