Handmade Persian Rugs, Hand Knotted Oriental Rugs, Wool Area Rugs

Hand-knotted Oriental rugs are pieces of art not just accessories for your home. Throughout history, these handmade rugs have been the object of fascination, desire, and status. CatalinaRug.com's mission is to help bring this rich cultural legacy to your home - at a affordable price!

Browse our history of area rugs to learn all about the history of Oriental rugs and the weaving methods used to create them.

Evidence suggests that thousands of years ago, nomadic tribesmen between Eurasia and Mongolia were the first to create pile carpets. These carpets were woven to add warmth and comfort to their simple tent homes. As more and more tribes mastered the technique of weaving pile rugs, it became a common practice to incorporate their creativity into the designs transforming a trade skill into works of art. Area rugs became not just a functional necessity in their tent homes but a symbol of taste and refinement by adding personality and beauty to their sparse surroundings.

Today's rug designs are more sophisticated, but they serve much the same purpose, lending beauty, warmth and personality to enhance a home. When considering a rug for your home, there are a number of reasons why you might decide upon hand knotted Oriental rugs or handmade Persian rugs instead of machine-made ones. Quality is the most important consideration. Handmade rugs are much more durable than mass-produced machine made rugs. Handmade rugs are usually made with natural materials such as cotton, wool or silk. These natural fibers last longer and release no harmful gasses into the environment over time. And since each rug is hand-knotted, each strand has been tied individually for greater combined strength and consistency.

The Qashqai is the largest tribal group in south-west of Iran. Their territory extends from Abadeh and Shahreza in the Isfahan province to the Persian Gulf. Traditionally, they were nomads and herders who migrated between winter and summer Pastures in the highlands and lowlands of the Zagros Mountains. The men cared for the sheep and the women did the spinning and weaving.

Today in addition to the nomadic ways of life, the Qashqai also live in villages and towns. Men have jobs and women weave at their homes. The wool used is supplied or purchased and can be either naturally or chemically dyed. Both naturally and chemically dyed wool can be used in the same rug. Qashqai rugs are usually woven on horizontal looms. Often, two women work side by side on the same loom without a pattern and are able to reproduce the design already made from memory. Wool, cotton, or mixture of both is used for the warp and weft threads. Goat hair is usually used to overcast the sides of the rug. The most common design is that of a dark blue central medallion and spandrels on a red field, which is filled with small birds, animals, human geometric figures and floral motifs. Other designs commonly used by the Qashqai include three connecting pole medallions, vertical stripes and repeated Boteh. The shades of red and blue are the primary colors, but yellow, blue, and green are used for the numerous motifs scattered throughout the field. Qashqai rugs are woven in a variety of sizes from 2x3 feet to 8x10 feet.