Interpreting The Colors Of An Oriental Rug
Color plays a big role in influencing our decision to purchase an Oriental area rug for our home. The right rug and color palette can brighten a room or provide subtlety and warmth.
At Oriental Rug Salon we understand Oriental area rugs better than most of the purveyors and “cleaners” throughout SW Florida. We take great pride in educating our readers on the history, design, and craftsmanship that goes into the construction of a genuine Oriental style rug and if we can ever answer any questions, regardless of where you may be, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail at any time.
How To “Read” An Oriental Rug
We may choose blue to create a more soothing, relaxed atmosphere or yellow to give the room a bright, sunny look. For rug weavers though, colors were more than just a decorative element.
Different colors translate different meanings and different weavers choose their colors deliberately depending on the message they want to convey through their pattern and design. Weavers do not choose colors lightly and a lot of thought goes into each rug design before the first weft is laid.
Let’s explore the meaning of some of the most often used colors in our quest to determine how to “read” an Oriental rug.
Green
To the Persians, particularly the orthodox Mohammedans, green is considered to be a holy color as it is associated with the Prophet Mohammed. Weavers used the color green sparingly. It was usually reserved for those sections of the rug that was unlikely to be walked on very often, such as the corners and sides. Green is regarded as the color of hope, life, spring, and renewal.
Red
Red is the color of fire. It is a high-energy color that invokes joy, happiness, enthusiasm, courage, virility, faith and a vibrant life force. Weavers used the color red liberally in their weaving to bring attention to certain patterns or motifs that they wanted to highlight.
Red Colors in Oriental Rugs Beautiful Open Filed pattern with very significant Medallion
Brown
Brown represents the earth and soil and is considered to be the color of fertility.
Blue
The color blue symbolizes a sense of strength and or force. It stands for power, honesty and solitude and also alludes to the afterlife.
Yellow
Yellow is the color of the sun and in the weavings too yellow is associated with the sun and represents the joy of life and living.
Orange
Orange is used to add a touch of humility or piety to the design.
Gold
Gold suggests power and wealth. It was used sparingly in oriental rugs and was usually reserved for rugs that were specially woven for royalty and rulers.
White
White is a pure color and is associated with purity of the heart, innocence, selflessness, cleanliness, and peace.
Black
Black is a forceful color and usually lends itself towards symbolizing doom and destruction. Rug weavers very rarely used to create complete patterns or even to create the rug field. When they douse black, it is typically to create outlines and borders in order to define a precise design.
Sourcing the dyes for oriental rugs
All dyes used in oriental rugs are extracted from natural sources. The nomadic tribal who was the original weavers used a variety of indigenous plants and insects to obtain the colors with which they dyed the wool.
Different shades of green are obtained from crushing and boiling a variety of leaves.
Red is extracted from the roots of the Madder plants or sometimes from crushed bodies of certain insects found in the region.
Browns are obtained from oak bark and walnut fruits, both of which were found abundantly in the region.
Yellows are made from Ox-eye chamomile flowers, pomegranate skins, saffron or vine leaves.
Blue is obtained from the Dyers Woad Blue plant, which yields indigo, the most important blue dye.
Some dye sources in genuine hand-knotted wool and silk area rugs are easily found and easier to extract so they are used liberally in rug weaving. However, some dyes sources are not so common. The rarity of these sources means that those colors are expensive to obtain and are used very sparingly.
Oriental Rug Salon is skilled in the cleaning and repair of all Oriental rug types. Our services are relied upon by many of our areas leading interior designers, rug collectors, Oriental rug shops, carpet cleaners and homeowners who are desirous of a quality-safe cleaning.
Oriental Rug Salon is a Certified Partner with the prestigious Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the international Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI). In addition, we are A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau and are a five year in a row winner of Angie’s List coveted Super Service Award.
For more information on Oriental Rug Salon please visit us online at www.OrientalRugSalon.com or call us anytime at 239-424-8171.
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Services Offered:
Oriental Rug Cleaning | Wool Area Rug Cleaning | Silk Area Rug Cleaning | Synthetic Area Rug Cleaning | Oriental Rug Repairs | Fringe Repair | Oriental and Persian Rug Appraisals
Oriental Area Rug Areas Serviced: Naples | Marco Island | Cape Coral | Fort Myers | Lehigh Acres | Bonita Springs | Estero | Sanibel | Port Charlotte | Punta Gorda | Pine Island | North Fort Myers | Fort Myers Beach | Buckingham | Useppa | Captiva | Alva | Bokeelia | Saint James City | Matlacha
