Antique Rugs
Nomadic rugs originate in the cradle of civilization: Russia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Nepal, Tibet, China, Turkey, Mesopotamia, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan, and now Egypt and Morocco.
Nomadic people, dwelling in tents, wandered tending herds of sheep and goats that provided the wool for their rugs. Rug designs are thought to have been handed down faithfully from mother to daughter with little or no changes for hundreds of years.
Even today, weaving a rug requires tremendous perseverance. It can take months or years to finish a single rug. When a tribe moves, the entire loom is dismantled and carried along with the rug to a new location. This tradition has carried on for centuries.
Iran was, and is, the center of the nomadic rug trade. During the Safavid Dynasty in Iran Shah Abbas was the inspiration for various patterns, all of which feature a central lily. Shah Abbas was intrigral to the Persian rug industry by sponsoring royal rug factories all over Iran.
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