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THE ENGLISH HOME 109Rug making has a long andcomplicated history, and eachpart of the world has its ownstyle, colour and manufacturingtechniques. Each tradition also imposesdifferent meanings upon the designs andcolours used: reds, for example, areemployed universally to symbolise richnessand power, whilst green is regarded as thesacred colour of Mohammed’s coat, andso it is avoided in Muslim culture. Motifssuch as the lotus, the dragon and fish areladen with meaning in Chinese culture,whilst being figurative representations offigures. Depictions of animals and peopleare discouraged in Islamic culture, givingrise to an elaborate lexicon of geometricdesigns and pattern.``````HAND-TUFTED RUGSUsed in both modern and traditionaldesigns, hand tufting is the fastest methodof making a rug by hand. The pattern isdrawn onto a woven canvas then the rugmaker takes a tufting gun and injects yarnsin different colours into the drawn sectionsof the backing. The pile is then frequentlysheared to achieve the desired texture. Thetechnique is popular in India and China.``````KNOTTINGKnotted rugs are constructed usingindividual threads of coloured wool, silkor cotton, which are tied to strong verticalthreads in cotton or silk (the warp),suspended on a loom. Each row of knots iskept in place by a woven horizontal thread(the weft). The edges of the rug are knownas the selvedge and the end binding isformed by weaving a few rows of flatweavein a kilim style (see over page), which arethen stitched in place. This is finishedwith a decorative fringe made from thecontinuation of the warp threads. The type``````of knot will indicate the origin of the rug.Indian, Persian, and Chinese rugs areusually made using an asymmetrical PersianSenneh knot tied around a warp thread,whilst the symmetrical Turkish Ghiordesknot is favoured by the Turks, theCaucasus and northern Iran. The Juftiknot, found in the highly prised Khorasanrugs from northeastern Iran, is tied aroundfour warps making the knotting processfaster. All these knots are cut individuallywhilst being worked. In Tibet the yarn istied around two warp threads and a metalrod and the knots are worked with acontinuous piece of yarn until the patterndictates a colour change when the rodis removed and the knots are cut. Mostcontemporarily designed, handmade rugs``````use this faster technique. To finish, thesurface of all these rug types are clippedto ensure that all the knot tails are thesame length. This is known as ‘cut pile’,the alternative is a ‘loop pile’ where theknots formed around a rod are leftuncut, forming loops.To determine whether a rug is handknotted, examine the back of the rug;if the pattern and stitching is very even,then it will almost certainly be machine-made. Sometimes in machine-made rugsthe knots are tufted or punched ontoa latex backing, a hand-knotted rug willnever have a backing. The fringe maybe sewn onto the ends of a machine-madecarpet, sometimes in a different yarn fromthat forming the framework, whereasBY DEFINITION: RUGSRugs come in a wide variety of different textures and patterns to supply both visual andaesthetic warmth to a room scheme. Here, we explain some of the terms usedABOVE Felt rugs are especially hardwearing and offer good insulation, whilst those in warmingcolours help to further heighten a sense of cosy comfort within a scheme as well as underfoot.Shyrdak felt rug, 1.8m x 2.85m, £1,800, FeltTEH UK DEC15 By Definition.indd 109 21/10/2015 15:57