Rugs & Carpets - General

Fine carpets are prized for their beauty and durability, particularly rugs of the handwoven variety, and are valued as both works of art and functional home decor items. When it comes to antique rugs for sale, the older the better, as antique rugs typically increase in value over time.

The oldest rugs from the Middle East and America are the most sought after. These rugs were hand knotted and made with natural materials and dyes, ensuring the durability and continuing aesthetic beauty of the rugs. Handwoven carpets were often commissioned by emperors and kings for the royal household. Surviving examples grace the interiors of palaces, museums, and private homes worldwide.

Originally, these works were considered too precious to lie on the floor. Instead, they were hung on walls or used to cover tables. You were considered a very important person if you were allowed to wipe your feet on a carpet. Even in America, hand knotted rugs were used to the same purposes, and only the very wealthy imported carpets and placed them on the floor or in front of the hearth.

Quick Facts

• The oldest known carpet is displayed at The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The carpet was excavated from the Pazyryk burial mounds, and is dated from the 5th to 4th century B.C.
• The most expensive antique carpet sold at auction so far is a Persian sickle-leaf vine scroll and palmette “vase” carpet (1600 to 1650), the only known one with a red background, which sold at Sotheby’s of New York in June 2013 for $33.7 million
• The collector’s world has show a resurgence of interest in mid-20th century rugs. A Barbro Nilsson flatweave carpet sold at Wright’s for $112,500 in 2014