Your Guide To Chinese Rugs

Oriental rugs seem to have quite a huge following these days. Among the many popular oriental rugs include those that are made in Iran, Turkey, India, Cyprus, Vietnam and China. These area rugs are often categorized according to the region in which they we remade in. thus you have several categories of oriental rugs like the Persian rugs, Kurdish rugs, Tibetan rugs, Nepalese rugs, Chinese rugs and others.

Chinese rugs gained its following many years ago, when the rugs were made in what was known as the traditional Chinese colors and designs. This traditional Chinese look was actually a design that was specifically made for the imported rugs that were sold in the US and Europe. Manufacturers in China purposely used these designs as they fit into the perceptions of the westerners’ minds of what a Chinese rug should look like.

The main materials used in the weaving of these Chinese area rugs were wool and silk. The attraction of these rugs was that after they were woven they were hand carved with a special hand tool which resulted in a beautiful sculpted look for the rugs. Besides tufting, the rugs were also hand knotted, which means that they were quite strong and hard wearing.

From the traditional Chinese look, the rugs were then made to look more appealing to the Europeans by copying European designs. This was when Chinese rugs were made in the style of the French Aubusson, of the French flat woven rug. It was also at this time that the rugs got more creative in terms of style and designs, as you can even find rugs made in the Art Deco style. Other contemporary rug styles include the Scandinavian Rya rugs, the Tibetan rugs as well as the Nepalese rugs.

From these looks the Chinese rug makers graduated into making rugs in the Sino-Persian style. This refers to rugs that were manufactured in China but designed to look like the Persian rugs. These Sino-Persian rugs can be found in designs such as the Isfahan, Kashan and Tabriz rugs. These rugs were all woven from wool or even silk, and were great antique looking rugs.

Chinese rugs are very distinct when it comes to their looks and designs. Carved Chinese rugs often employ the use of soft pastel colors as well as colors like black, red, emerald and navy, and were made in the Art Deco designs and the French Aubusson styles, as well as in simple floral designs. Sino-Persian rugs on the other hand had more intricate detailing, as these were made to look like the real Persian rugs.

Compared to the other oriental rugs, motifs that are used on Chinese rugs usually stand alone and do not create a bigger design. Their designs are also mostly literal and not decorative, while the motifs used have exact meanings. You may come across some of these Chinese sub-styles when looking at Chinese rugs: Baodou, Peking, Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu.

For the Chinese rugs, the most common layout is the medallion. These are usually round, and have leaf like dragons, flowers, or geometric fret designs. There are also layouts where the rug has all over patterns with repeating motifs. Motifs used are like the dragon, butterfly, phoenix, lotus, peony, fish, bat or other symbolic shapes. In some rugs you can also see lattices all over the rug. These lattices are made up of shapes like swastikas (Chinese fret), squares, octagon, lozenges and even clouds.

One thing that you will see when looking at hand woven Chinese rugs is that they are graded in a different way from other rugs in the world. For Persian rugs, you will normally see its grade as being certain knots per square inch. For Chinese rugs however the system used is the line count, which refers to how many knots are in one foot of the rug’s width. Common line counts are like the 70 line and the 90 line.

Chinese rugs make great additions to the home. You can use these floor rugs in the living room, dining room, bedroom, entryway, foyer and your hallway. These rugs will provide your home with a timeless classic beauty that appeals to all. As these rugs are available in many shapes, sizes and colors, you are bound to find one that will attractively complement the rest of your room.