How to Identify Antique Rugs

Examine the colors, motifs and borders. Generally antique rugs are considered either western (American, English, French or other European countries) or oriental (Turkish, Persian, Chinese or Indian). Look through antique carpet books, and begin with broad-stroke identification (i.e. culture, country or time period). For example early 20th century Irish carpets incorporated bold Celtic knots, crosses, and interlocking, swirling animals. Antique French carpets, on the other hand, are more muted with designs taken from paintings of the era. Notice differences in borders. While most carpets have at least one border, some carpets will have several, each of a different width with a different pattern.

Measure your antique rug. Calculate the overall size, the length of any fringe and the knots per square inch. Size helps determine the age of antique rugs. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, smaller homes were built; therefore, smaller rugs were woven. Hand-woven rugs are woven on a loom. At the completion of the weaving, the warp threads are finished off, usually by creating a fringe. Depending on the region and time period, some fringes were left long and knotted, some were unknotted, and on other rugs, the fringe was cut extremely short. Turn the rug over, and measure the knots per square inch. This measurement assists in identifying the region and era of the rug. Oriental carpets, for example, generally have more knots per square inch than European or American carpets.

Compare your data to other similar rugs. Gather together all of your rug data: colors, motif, borders, overall size, length of fringe, type of yarn--and find carpets similar to yours. Look through antique carpet books, visit antique shows, peruse online antique websites and attend antique carpet lectures. You may be lucky to find another rug so similar to yours that you can identify it according to its country of origin, date and even its maker. In most cases, however, identify your rug based on matching as many characteristics as possible and making a very educated guess.