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ORIENTAL RUG ZINE
INTRODUCTION
When I first laid eyes on the explosive colors and puzzling asymmetry of an oriental rug back in the heady days of the 1960s, it was clear to me that whoever
wove it had been stoned out of his or her mind. That was a projection of course, and by no means my only misconception about oriental rugs. I wasn't alone in
misunderstanding oriental rugs. Later, in the '70s, when I sold rugs from a tiny store in Berkeley, it was not uncommon for folks to stick their heads in the door
and say, "Wow! Did you make all these rugs?" Even today, many otherwise well-informed people betray deep misunderstanding of what rugs are all about even as they hand over their money to buy one. The most profound lack of
understanding, though, may be among the occasional intrepid journalist who writes articles about rugs. Recently I clipped this gem from a newspaper:
"…..Among their other attributes, oriental rugs wear like iron, some for as long as 1000 years. And while you use them they just become more
valuable. It is not un- common for them to double in value every year or two."
Over the years, I have taught 2-day seminars on rugs at university extensions and
in my store. But I have thought for years that an expanded course on oriental rugs would be useful to many folks: appraisers, rug collectors, home decorators,
journalists and those simply interested in the nice things life has to offer. The need for such a course became immediate for me when my son came to work in
my oriental rug business several years ago. I recognized the need to introduce him to rugs in a formal way rather than the haphazard way most of my employees had
had to settle for because of our hectic pace. I knew of no book about oriental rugs designed specifically to teach. And though "guides" to oriental rugs may be full
of information (as is my brother's and nephew's classic book, "Oriental Rugs, A Complete Guide, Murray L. Eiland, Jr. and Murray Eiland lll, Bulfinch, 1998), they lack the interactive aspect on which true teaching is based.
So once a week my son and I stole away to a private room in the store where I took it upon myself to present the fundamentals of oriental rugs. Wanting to
recruit Jesse into the rug-world rather than scare him off, I tried to make the whole thing fun, and even though I gave him formal assignments and regular quizzes, he
survived the process still interested in rugs. This series of lessons, Oriental Rugs 101, expanded and fine-tuned, is based on those sessions with my son.
I have been thrilled by how well the internet lends itself to presenting these lessons to people on a large scale. The internet is a great medium for teaching
because of its opportunities for interaction. Through assignments and quizzes, I can carefully direct students to what is important for them to learn, and through
email, students can express their questions, ask for guidance or even disagree with me, their teacher.
This course will not answer all your questions about rugs. Even serious rug
scholars with decades of experience would call themselves learners. But this course can offer the underpinnings, the fundamentals, the foundation for an understanding of rugs. All we have to do to understand them is to navigate the
who, what, where, why, when and how of them. Let's start with Where.
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LESSON ONE
Where are rugs made?
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