|
|
The
exact date of the origin of weaving of rugs is not known but it is estimated that weaving
as we know it today evolved in Egypt and central Asia around second millennium B.C. The
earliest known pile rug was found in a Scythian burial site in outer Mongolia and has been
dated back to the fifth century B.C. By this time, the art of rug making had already
attained a highly skillful level. Oriental rugs are frequently depicted in icons and
paintings of both the western world as well as the oriental miniatures. The art of
oriental rug making reached its pinnacle under the Safavid Empire of Central Asia in the
17th century, from where these reached to Europe via the
Silk Route and newly discovered sea trading routes. These rugs were greatly prized by the
rich and the aristocrats, who were the ones who could afford them, usually as hangings and
table covers. With the rise of the middle class with the industrial revolution, the
oriental rugs reached the common masses of Europe and America by the mid 19th Century leading to a renewed interest in the oriental rugs.
In this century the needs of the foreign buyer have become a big influence on the rug
industry in the near east with most oriental rugs now being woven in commercial
establishment of factory proportions. |
