What Makes A Carpet Antique?
In the strictest sense the term antique applies to objects that are at least
eighty years old. At the present, rugs considered “antique” are pieces
produced up to about 1925. Pieces made between this rime and the 1950's are “semi-antique,” while those made 30 to fifty years also are “old.” However,
when applied to rugs and carpets, the term antique implies more than age. It
involves a whole series of desirable characteristics pertaining to quality
of design, technique, and materials, and a less well defined quality of
cultural authenticity. In monetary terms antique is equatable with higher
cost owing to the fact that antique rugs, i.e. those made before 1925, are a
finite commodity whose number can only diminish; it can never increase.
In actuality the years around1925 mark a point of transformation in rug
production. From this time on, natural vegetable dyes were largely replaced
by synthetic colors which, even when stable, had none of the depth, warmth,
and subtlety of the natural dyestuffs that had been used previously. This
was also a time when machine-spun wool replaced hand-spun yarns. These
developments had an enormous impact on the appearance of carpets. Not only
were natural dyes warmer and richer in tone, they were variegated in their
shading, which created an illusion of space or depth across the surface of the rug. Similarly, the irregular texture of hand-spun wool was more varied
in its reflective properties than machine spun yarns.. Antique rugs with
hand-spun wool and natural dyes therefore have a more luminous, animated
surface with an illusion of deep space, while those made in in the period
approaching and following the mid twentieth century have by comparison a
duller, flat, monotonous surface. In addition, the design of twentieth
century rugs began to change. As western influence expanded across the Middle East, the native cultures began to lose their autonomy and
authenticity, and their ability to maintain traditional designs diminished
along with their ability to preserve traditional craft techniques.
Ultimately then, the divide between antique rugs and later pieces concerns
far more than age. It is truly a distinction in quality on all levels.
