Hand Knotting a Rug

The generally accepted rule is that a rug is not a genuine oriental rug unless it is hand knotted or hand woven in that part of the world very broadly from Turkey to China.

There are differences in production from area to area. For example, in Turkey and Iran (Persia), the weavers are mostly women. In India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal, the weavers are mostly men. In China you will routinely see both.

While much has been said about the proliferation of child labor in the rug industry, the practice has significantly diminished and wasn’t what many said all along. A common misconception is that a child’s small fingers can tie smaller knots and therefore create a more valuable rug. The fact is, it is greater skill that is needed. Sure, nimble fingers are a factor but expertise is gained only from long years of experience. In some areas, primarily where it is women who weave, the skill is passed on from mother to daughter, and perhaps more often from grand mother to grand daughter. The weaving is done as part of a day’s normal activity….a little work on the loom after household duties are finished.

However, many of the rugs you and I will see are indeed produced on looms owned by the manufacturer (yes, even if it is located in the weaver’s home) with pattern and colors specified. (Remember reading about the rug patterns a couple of posts ago?) The manufacturers prepare the loom, furnish the wool (or silk or combination) and say, here ya go. Make me a rug. The weaver is paid for the piece, not the hours.

On my trip I visited a workshop where rugs are typically woven as tests of pattern/color or for an order that requires less time than would normally be allocated so only the highly skilled are employed.

He reaches up, identifies and separates two strands of warp thread, slips a thread of wool behind one, around another, pulls this “knot” down to the base, cuts it off and reaches back up for the next two warp threads. In less than 2 seconds.

These weavers typically tie 9000 knots per day. Sounds like an awful lot yet it takes months to complete just one 9 x 12 rug. And then the finishing processes begin with shearing to even out the pile followed by multiple washes and further shearing or carving. There are so many small details involved that books have been written on the subject but I’ll just show you a few pictures that illustrate the “high points”.


Next: It's still along way from finished.