It s interesting that unlike machine made rugs that lose their value as they age hand knotted oriental rugs become even more valuable as they age.
How to tell if an oriental rug is valuable.
Similar to higher thread counts in bed linens the more knots per square inch your oriental rug has the high its quality.
The rug s backing will reveal hints about how the rug was made and should also have a tag with details about the rug s size material production country and knot count.
If it is a handmade rug further examination of the pile the design the ends and the sides whether the foundation is wool silk or cotton what type of knot was used etc can usually determine its general value.
If you flip the rug on its back you ll see that the fringe is either glued or sewn on this is one of the easiest ways to determine if your oriental rug is fake.
This is because there is more variation in the older rugs and you are less likely to find many rugs in the similar color or design.
Should a legal situation arise relating to the value of the rug the person who issued the appraisal might get called into court to testify.
One of the items that can have a profound effect on the value of an oriental rug is a carpet s knots per inch or kpi.
If you can see that is has been sewn to the rug then you know the rug is genuine.
Factors which determine a rug s worth there are multiple factors to consider when determining the value of an antique rug.
In machine made rugs the fringe is not created during the manufacturing process.
Let gijs hamming and richard ebbers our oriental rug experts guide you.
You ll be able to asses whether a rug is an authentic oriental rug or not by looking at the rug s backside.
This an especially common practice on hand tufted rugs.
Age is a significant factor in pricing oriental rugs.
When first attempting to identify or assess the value of handmade rugs or machine made rugs the back of the rug contains the first clue.
In fact some rug merchants in the past wouldn t sell a newly made carpet instead waiting several years for it to age so it would bring more money.
Because the fringe is so vital to a hand knotted oriental rug rug dealers add fake fringe to a rug to make it appear hand knotted.
A rug s character is revealed in its backside.
It is in fact rather sewn onto the rug after the rug is completed.
These include size knot density the materials used design colour and age condition.