Notes on hand woven rugs, by Andrew Haughton
Hand made or machine made; natural or synthetic.
Which ever rug shop you go to (and Scotland has plenty of independent rug shops), I recommend you look at only genuine hand woven wool rugs rather than machine produced rugs. Though hand made rugs are usually more expensive, they're usually more characterful and nearly always made of pure, natural material. Purely on ecological grounds rugs of synthetic material will likely be thrown into our groaning landfills in 10 years. This is just one good reason why, in my opinion, they are not a good choice.
Types and origins of hand woven rugs.
There are many ways to categorise rugs from weaving regions such as India, Iran, Afghanistan or Morocco.
There are the very old traditions of tribal and nomadic rugs with their sometimes simpler patterns and fewer colours. On such type are 'Gabbeh' rugs from SW Iran. They have a naive character and lush deep wool pile which is the heart of their strong visual presence. You'll can find more elaborate, perhaps more regular and controlled patterns from settled or village weavers, such as NW Persian Hamadan, Karajar, Heriz, and literally hundreds more. Then you'll see finer designs from city workshops such as Kashan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashad and Kirman, where a master weaver or naqshe might call out the colours to his weavers in an age old practice. These can also be classical, formal but also ravishing, complex expressions of beauty. There I have dwelt fleetingly on only a few examples from the country formally known as Persia.
Design and colour
A village rug design may be influenced by a neighbour’s weaving or by a design from the other side of the country or from across borders, seen when visiting the nearest bazaar.. You may spot, especially in tribal and village rugs, little irregularities, changes in colour; that’s usually a sign of hand weaving and often a lasting delight to the owner.
There is also the lustre of wool to consider. And then there is the all important colour. New synthetic dyes can be exceptionally good and long lasting, but certainly not always. Natural dyes, as old as the ancient textiles arts, since the last 100 or more years are disappearing along with the nomadic culture they come from. They are now rare and expensive but some great examples persist, not just in 19th century rugs.
Finally, take time to examine different rugs before you buy, may be ask to try one at home, see if it connects in the room, above all love it!
Andrew Haughton, The Nomads Tent, Edinburgh, December 2025.
Top rug images: (left) Fine Kazak, Afghanistan, 233 x 154 cm, (centre) Fine contemporary gabbeh, Fars Province,196 x 152 cm, (right) A Persian garden design, Bijar province, 152 x 112 cm - all from The Nomads Tent
