Egyptian carpets

An exquisite Egyptian rug by Megerian Brothers Oriental Rugs. Most Megerian rugs, such as this one, are built after old Sultanabad styles.

Egyptian rugs are an anomaly, or more it appears if you ask me. On one hand, just a couple rugs and rugs from Egypt reach these shores every year, yet some of those are the best rugs in the world.

Many people don’t think of Egypt as a source of Oriental rugs. Brand new Egyptian rugs tend to be rarely contained in books on the subject because, first, new Oriental rugs of every nationality are hardly ever discussed in publications, and, next, Egyptian rugs these days don't have a recognizable Egyptian ‘look’. Almost all are derived from Persian designs.

Egypt features a rug-weaving custom that goes back to at least the sixteenth century. After a short time of fame, however, it seems to have gone into abeyance until after World War Two. The delivery associated with handmade carpeting industry in modern Egypt times into Egyptian Revolution in 1952, when the importation of carpets from Iran ceased.

A young Egyptian rug weaver at an A. Moustafa loom near Cairo, Egypt.

When I was investigating current creation of rugs in Egypt, I became aware that an extremely large Egyptian producer of rugs had been simply then planning to introduce a U.S. unit. The Egyptian business is A. Moustafa, the first rug producers in modern Egypt starting businesses after 1952. These days, Moustafa uses lots and lots of weavers, teenage boys and ladies who have reached 15 years old and also have finished nine many years of education. For some, weaving is a family enterprise, but most are trained because of the Moustafa staff.

Moustafa creates rugs and carpets in Persian designs with either Egyptian or Merino wool, or silk, in artificial dyes and machine-spun pile. The Moustafa household denies that we now have above ‘six looms in Egypt’ weaving rugs with normal dyes. Since this book visits press, professional pictures are not offered regarding the rugs the organization will transfer to The united states, but we see glimpses of interesting pieces from the loom or perhaps in the entire process of becoming finished. It'll be interesting to observe a well-established Egyptian firm will fare in America as they jump into the ornamental carpet market.

An ivory area Egyptian carpet by Megerian brothers, also based on a vintage Persian Sultanabad design.

The most respected United states firm weaving rugs in Egypt is Megerian Brothers Oriental Rugs of brand new York. Without a doubt, Megerian has become the respected of all of the rugmakers today. The Megerian family members has been around various facets of the carpet business since 1917, including the fix of traditional rugs and rugs. Their particular orientation toward collectibles and their perception that old rugs had been getting fatally scarce fundamentally led all of them to replicate classic pieces.