Rare Persian Rugs

Slowly dying handicraft

Young People are decreasingly interested in learning the handicraft of knotting rugs. The manual work of working for weeks on a loom is perceived as monotone and hard, at the same time it required a lot of experience and skill.

Wages start to rise at the same time because labour is becoming scarce. Since labour is a decisive cost factor, prices rose substancially over the last 10 years. Depending on the level of effort and exclusivity put into a Persian rug, it may cost well over 5,000 USD per square meter. Although this is a comparably high price, Persian rugs do not seem to be cheap. However, if you compare the manual effort put into each rug over a period of several months to wages in the western world, the prices are still extremely low. Countries known for high-quality handicraft are Iran (former Persia), Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India. 

Persian rugs as status symbol in the past

Many decades ago only the wealthiest people were able to afford handmade oriental rugs, especially Persian rugs. Machine made rugs did not exist yet at that time and high-quality Persian rugs were absolutely unique. Sheik Naser ad-Din supposedly helped Persian rugs to fame. He lived an opulent lifestyle openly, also presenting his most-luxurious rugs. Oriental rugs soared in popularity and embodies pure wealth and luxury. In mid of 1900 the demand fell substancially, since young generations did not like the dusty image of Persian rugs.

The Persian rug becoming popular again

For quite some years the beauty of handmade oriental rugs is on the rise again. Not only do they convince with their exceptional design, but also with the natural materials down to organic dyes. Prices are expected to rise substancially, since wages and demand soars. Additionally, political topics like embargos most likely also lead to more expensive prices in the future.

Why are Persian rugs popular again? On the one hand, modern interior designs focus on bright concepts without the use of intense colors. This clean design is often made vivid by adding an oriental rug in breathtaking colors to the interior concept. On the other hand, handmade Persian rugs are made competely of natural materials - no plastics, synthetics or chemicals. Nowadays, this is highly valued as a sustainable product with a long lifetime. Additionally, each rug is unique and represents his own individual character. 

After all, there are a lot of factors that push prices of oriental, especially of Perisan rugs. There are sill high levels of stock, which piled up during years of low demand. these stocks deplenish quickly, since the production of one single handmade rug takes a period of several months. Thus, it is very hard to quickly increase the supply of high-quality rugs, in particular if the workforce is decreasing.