The gallery owner began by showing us different types of rugs and explaining the differences in quality and materials. He told us that in terms of quality, "city" rugs are at the top of the list, followed by "village" rugs and "tribal" rugs. You can fairly easily begin to determine which rugs fall into those categories simply by looking at the designs and colors used. Tribal rugs may be of a lesser quality because the people are nomadic in nature, so each time they move, they pack up their looms. This movement can result in wrinkles in the finished product. Of course, when looking at these rugs, the naked eye doesn't pick up the imperfections. They are beautiful and it's amazing they are completely handmade.
Admiring a natural silk rug
The owner then unrolled some city rugs -- one was woven with wool and the other with silk. As one would expect, the silk rug was thinner and had a sheen to it. He described how you can flip the rugs over to inspect how small the knots are -- the smaller the knots, the higher the quality. The silk rug had over 3,000 knots per square inch. How much does such a fine rug cost in a basic size? It was quite a bargain at S$55,000 (roughly $38k USD). Upon hearing that dollar amount, most of us quickly drank the rest of our coffee and disposed of the cups to avoid spilling!
The most enlightening part of the presentation for me was when he took us out back to show us how they clean rugs. He had two rugs from a local restaurant lying on a concrete slab outside. They used a garden hose to thoroughly wet the rugs and then took an implement that resembled a garden hoe to push the water (and the dirt along with it) out of the fibers. I couldn't help but laugh at the idea cleaning rugs like that at home. I would imagine most people would be horrified to watch someone hose down their expensive oriental rug and take a hoe to it. And they're not gentle either! Not to mention that the rugs would likely be stolen before the process was ever finished. So, they repeatedly wet the entire rug, push the dirty water off and then use some type of natural soap that will not bleach the natural dyes used. Then they dry them outside in the sun. He recommended only cleaning a fine wool rug every 5 years and added that you can lay the rug in bright sunlight every 6 months to help clear away any dust that has settled into it.
Cleaning a fine rug is not a gentle process
While I never thought I was a fan of oriental rugs, after looking at them at a few places now, I am eager to buy one for our Southlake house before we leave. It was neat to hear this man tell stories about each of the rugs he showed us and the craftmanship is unbelievable. He told us that the finest rugs in the world come from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. And while Persian rugs are the most famous, he believes that Kashmir rugs are a better value for the money. So, keep that in mind if you're ever in the market!
After viewing numerous beautiful rugs and seeing firsthand how their coloring changes depending on the direction you display them on the floor, the gallery provided complimentary lunch for everyone. We ate Indian food and tried not to choke when we discovered that a small, antique rug we admired hanging on the wall was worth more than S$180,000. Of course, they offer rugs in all price ranges but naturally we had expensive taste!
It was an informative morning and I look forward to purchasing a rug of my own sometime in the near future. I'll just make sure I choose one that still allows for our daughters to attend college someday.
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