Area rugs are great showpieces in the home. They have always held an important place in home décor, from the days when animal skins lined a cave floor, to today. We could probably cover every square inch of the home with a different style of area rug if we so desired. The variations are endless, and the possibilities exponentially so. We get to see quite a few wonderful pieces, as people bring in their rugs for a cleaning. You might think that after you’ve seen a few hundred nice ones, we could lose interest.
But then the other day something interesting happened. A friend travelling through Turkey stopped in at a market, found a beautiful hand woven rug, and snapped a picture to share. It was gorgeous. Jaw droppingly beautiful. Someone had made it with their bare hands, and though it could be purchased on a travel budget, there was no denying it as a piece of true art.
Area Rug Art Appreciation
Calling an area rug a piece of art is not strange to any curator. Museums are stocked full of textiles that are literally woven pieces of history. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has an amazing collection that you can browse through online at your leisure.
As an investment, antique area rugs can fetch prices similar to art pieces from masters like Picasso or Van Gogh. Why? Well the condition of an antique rug will be a big factor. Area rugs are made to be walked on. 50 years of tread will begin to wear any rug out, so one that is kept in fine condition can be considered rare indeed.
The Most Famous Carpet in History
It’s not the oldest piece of woven textile in history, but it is perhaps the most important. The Ardabil Carpet (one of two) is a priceless Islamic rug contained in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK. It was designed with a single integrated design, which makes it a very impressive piece, since the carpet is considered very large as well. It measures 34 ½ feet by 17 ½ feet.
Your Area Rug is Precious
So maybe you don’t have a million-dollar area rug sitting underneath your coffee table, but that doesn’t make it any less of an important investment. Rest assured, when you bring us your area rugs for cleaning, we treat them with the care they deserve. Like the pieces of art that they are.