Superimposed fabrics in which the pattern is created by an accessory fabric (or tape, ribbon, or cord) overlaid on a ground fabric or the pattern is created by cutouts in the ground fabric with the accessory fabric underlaid beneath the cutout.
appraisal. Determining the monetary value of a rug. In formal appraisal, the rug is identified and described. These properties are considered: attribution, age, condition, rug structure, design, and color.
Generally, auction prices are the best guide to the value of oriental rugs of interest to collectors. Easily identified types of rugs have a relatively narrow range of prices in the auction market. Rugs in exceptionally good or bad condition or having exceptional aesthetic merit fall outside this price range. Rugs of less popular or rare attribution have more variable auction prices. Prices are affected by changing interests of collectors and by changing tastes in interior decoration.
The valuation of contemporary decorative oriental rugs depends on current production and changing trends in interior decoration. Current retail prices are the comparative basis for valuing decorative rugs.
Monetary valuation is likely to be influenced by the motive of the person desiring the appraisal. Low appraisals may occur if the owner’s motive for valuation is purchase or estate taxation. High appraisals may occur if the owner’s motive is sale, an insurance claim, or gift deduction for tax purposes. Usually, replacement cost is the basis for declared value for insurance premium determination. Some consider it unethical for an appraiser to charge a fee based on the appraised value of the rug. See “attribution,” “condition,” “dating rugs,” “decorative rug,” “design classification,” and “technical analysis.”
apricot. A light yellowish red color, either the result of initial dye colors or the result of fading.
Aq Chah. A town and district of northern Afghanistan. The town is the chief market for rugs in Afghanistan. Rugs from the villages surrounding Aq Chah are woven by Turkmen. These rugs are in traditional designs and woven with the asymmetric knot. Colors used are red, indigo, and black, with some white, orange, and green
Arabatchi joval Sothebys
Arabatchi (from Turk. arabacı “(driver of) wheeled vehicle.”) A Turkmen tribe of the Amu Darya (Oxus) region of central Turkestan. Older main carpets attributed to this tribe carry the tauk noska gul. The dominant field color in their weavings is purplish-brown. Outlines are formed in natural brown wool. There is some warp offset and the knot is asymmetric and open to the left. Wefts are spun of wool and white cotton. However, the attribution of specific rugs to this tribe is questioned. See “Turkmen.”
arabesque. A design motif of intertwining or scrolling vines, tendrils, straps, or branches. These may be classified as geometric, floral, or vegetal, including the split-leaf type known as “rumî.” Arabesques usually include leaves, profile buds, and blossoms. They are a common device in oriental rug designs. Systems of arabesques may be superimposed in rug designs. See “islimi,” “saz,” “split leaf arabesque,” “Vase carpet,” and “Strapwork carpets.”
Arabesque
Iraqi Arabic embroidered rug (detail) Tribal Collections
Arabs. Arabic-speaking peoples inhabiting the countries of Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and much of North Africa. There are scattered groups throughout the Middle East, including Iran, and Turkestan. There is no significant rug production in Arabia. However, a so-called Arab tribe in south west Iran, a member of the Khamseh Confederacy, produces pile rugs, and Arab enclaves in Turkestan (both northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) are the source of kilims. See “Khamseh” and “Bedouin.”
Arabia. A peninsula of the Near East bounded on the west by the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean, on the east by the Persian Gulf, and on the north by Iraq and Jordan. It presently comprises the states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Mecca, the Muslim holy city, is near the west coast.
Arabic calligraphy and script. Arabic script derives from Nabataean script, and is a member of the family of Semitic writing systems which, via Phoenician, gave rise to the Greek and hence the Latin alphabet. The development and wide usage of Arabic script was due to the need to copy and distribute the Koran, beginning in the seventh century. Ornamented script or calligraphy developed from early Jazm script. There were many succeeding variations. These included Kufic, Thuluth, Naskhi, Nasta’liq, Muhaqqaq, Rayhani, Riqa’, and Tawqi’. Of these, only Kufic, Thuluth, Naskhi, and Nasta’liq have been found in inscriptions in oriental rugs. The inscriptions in the Ardabil carpet are in Nasta’liq. Kufesque is a group of design motifs derived from Kufic script, but not directly readable as script. The calligraphic styles were first used for textile and rug inscriptions in this approximate time sequence:
Kufic: seventh to tenth centuries
Kufesque: eleventh to fifteenth centuries
Nasta’liq: sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
Thuluth: nineteenth to twentieth centuries
See “cartouche,” “Kufesque,” and “inscriptions.”
Arabic numbers, Arabic numerals. See “Islamic dates.”
Arâk, Sultanabad. A province and city of northwest Iran. The city of Arâk was formerly Sultanabad. The province was the source of much high-quality rug production, on a workshop basis, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Notable rug-weaving centers in Arâk province include Sarouk, Mahal (Mahallât), Lillihan, and the districts of Farâhân and Serabend. See entries under these names.
Arâk (Sultanabad) rug Jason Nazmiyal
ara-khachi (Turk.). Middle or main stripe in a rug border.
arbabash (cart cover or head). A felt carpet of Daghestan in which the design is produced by appliquéd felt. See “Daghestan,” “istang,” and “kiyiz.”
archaeological sites. See “Altai culture,” “At-Tar,” “Çatal Hüyük,” “Fustat,” “Fustat carpet,” “Kizil,” “Lop Nor,” “Lop San pra,” “Lou lan,” “Niya,” “Pazyryk carpet,” “Quseir al-Qadim,” and “Shahr-i Qumis.”
Ardabil, Ardebil. A town in Iranian Azerbaijan east of Tabriz. It is the site of the shrine of Shaikh Safi (ancestor of the Safavid dynasty), first begun in the fourteenth century. Contemporary rugs of this area employ designs similar to Caucasian designs. They have symmetric knots at a density up to 160 per square inch on a cotton foundation. See “Persia.”
Ardabil rug J. Barry O’Connell
Ardabil Carpets. Two nearly identical Ardabil carpets
