Hand Woven Carpets

Hand woven carpets are a rather broad category that includes hand knotted carpets as well as flat weave carpet. Knotted carpets include the traditional Persian carpets and the flat weaves include wool and cotton dhurries and kilims. Flat-weaves occupy a very important place in our cultural heritage. Dhurrie weaving was once a part of every household.

The flat weaves could be cotton or wool. At times even colorful rags were woven to form a rug. In the normal basket weave durries, the patterns were such that depicted the life and the times of the age. They could be geometric, animal and plant figures or the traditional ikat patterns. Color dyes were mostly vegetable colors and carpets were woven on the traditional looms. Though now the household craft has changed to family businesses, the patterns still speak the times.

Knotted carpets arrived quite late in the Indian scenario. They came with the Mughals and the craftsmen were supported by the ruling class for quite some time. Since the craft had a rich appeal it initially developed in an aristocratic mannner. Initially the patterns followed were typically Turkish and Persian but gradually got Indianized. The nomadic patterns of the Middle East were quite similar to the Indian tribal patterns and were easily adapted by them. The Persian style craft flourished in Kashmir where the finest quality silk and the finest quality wool were available. The patterns were to an extent adapted to the Kashmiri art.

In Eastern India, jute weaving is quite common due to easy availability of jute and in Southern coastal regions, coir. Carpets of jute and coir are flat weave with different weave patterns. The carpet could be of these fibers or blend with cotton. These fibers can also be dyed in required colors but the original color is more in demand these days. This also insures more life of the carpet. Braided rugs also form a part of this category.

Quality
The quality of the hand woven carpets can be judged by the tightness of the weave and the density of the knots. Tight weaves and dense knotting ensures durability and neatness in patterns.