The mention of a Turkey rug automatically summons up an image of the predominantly scarlet, green and blur richly patterned rugs that were mass-produced for the West at the end of the nineteenth century. But this is to do Turkey a great injustice, as it has a long tradition of weaving since the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.     Sophisticated rugs were produced for the Ottoman court in the sixteenth century in the... 

  Of all the centers of rug production in the Orient, none equals Persia (modern-day Iran) for its rich diversity of designs, color and weave. A Persian rug has long been considered as the apogee of everything an exotic oriental rug should be. As early as the fourteenth century, fine rugs were an integral part of sophisticated Persian court life. Beautifully detailed miniatures show brightly colored geometric patterned rugs... 

To own a good rug is a responsibility. A modicum of common sense and the following of a few basic rules are all that is required to give a rug the care that it deserves. There is something inherently wilful about allowing a rug to deteriorate. The ownership of works of art is akin to being a custodian for one’s lifetime. If considerable thought and money have gone into the purchase of a rug the chances are that it will be cherished....