Nomads & their rugs have been on my mind a lot lately. It’s fascinating to think about people who don’t have a permanent home ~ who travel with their families, livestock, & belongings for greener pastures ~ create warmth & comfort in their (mobile) homes through the use of their handmade rugs. I suppose this feat provides both a need & a want; the need for the utility of the rugs & the want of something beautiful. And consider this; in our own country, nary a handmade rug enthusiast rests until their rug is laid down perfectly to make a room both comfortable & maybe even somewhat luxurious. Very naturally, we all want an inviting environment, & handmade rugs have been a part of that for, well, a long time.

Whether for utilitarian uses or for luxury, handmade rugs have been traded for eons. As I’ve experienced since starting to curate rugs a couple of years ago, I believe there is an abundance of handmade rugs here in the United States, ready for continued trade. But how did we get to this point? How did the handmade rugs first make their way to America?

So, by this point (17th century), the desire to have handmade rugs was well developed in Europe & the UK. The majority of rugs at this time in Europe were small rugs woven in villages in western Turkey, though rugs from other regions were collected in Constantinople & shipped via Italian merchants to Venice. From there, rugs made their way to other port cities & taken to market in London. 

Dr. Mast postulates that the first rugs in the Americas were likely brought by Spanish colonists whose leaders had that hankering for exotic items. Spaniards had an active trade with Turkey, due in part to the Moors’ influence. Large Oushak rugs were imported into Spain in the 16th century, but didn’t make their way to the colonies until the late 17th century when the colonists' homes were large enough to accommodate them. 

At this time, carpets for Persians were made for their small & narrow homes, so the layout was different from new Americans’ homes. Most of the rugs that were shipped to the west during this time were already more than 100 years old! There was a demand for their intricate designs & craftsmanship, but there were no shops that were specialized as a “rug shop”, these started to form by the end of the 19th century.

Fast forward a bit to the post Civil War era when, relatively speaking, people in the North lived a prosperous life. Dr. Mast noted that “a new economy in the North after the Civil War prompted a production exploitation in the Caucasus”. Keep in mind that Persia was an elusive destination & a place not traveled to by most westerners. Also, most of the Persian rugs & carpet production was for use in the Persian home, with limited export to neighboring regions. Once the Western market appeared, both Persian and European entrepreneurs created productions to specifically supply the West, America in particular. 

Other styles of rugs were introduced during this time as well. For instance, during WWI, import had come to a near halt from Turkey & Persia & to solve this problem, Art Deco Chinese rug styles of Walter Nichols were touted as the rug to have. Then when WWII ended & Persia was a political mess, & Turkey had unreasonably high tariffs on the import of their rugs, & China was becoming a Communist country, the import of rugs wasn’t happening. Stockpiled rugs in England & New York were soon depleted & since rugs were coming over from Iran & Turkey, a new economy of rugs emerged from India. 

By no means does the story end here, but stopping for now. Part II with introduction of rug companies in the US to come.

Can you imagine; the first handmade rug quite possibly came on the Mayflower? Does any of this information surprise you?