Friday, November 29, 2013

How do we Establish the Value of a Rug?

This is based on something I wrote this for one of the discussion boards. One nice woman had tried to answer a question about value but she muddled it up so badly the answer I had to clarify rug value
This is based on a real rug a 90 Line Chinese rug that I recently appraised.

In the trade this is called a 90-line Chinese or a Chinese Aubusson Rug. These rugs flooded the market in the late 20th century. They are thick durable rugs but the are not in high demand on the retail market used but are not inexpensive when we need to buy a new one.
  • High retail is ticket Price or Asking Price.
  • Retail is actual normal Selling Price.
  • Wholesale price is what the store pays.
  • Fair Market is what a willing buyer and willing seller would agree to pay in an open market.

So we take a $1000 Chinese Rug at wholesale. Many stores will price it at $9,999 as the high retail or Asking Price. No one normally pays this.

Legit stores take the $1000 rug and sell it for $2000 maybe $3000.

The Scammer stores have the same rug with a ticket price of $9,999 but the sale is 50% to 80% off.

So the $1000 rug sells normally for $2000 to $5000.

But think about a new car when you drive it off the lot you just cut its value in half because it just became a used car. Every day you drive the car it is worth a little less.

So if you bleed this rug they will sue you for at least $9,999. The Insurance Company will settle it for $2000. The wholesale is$1000.

But what is the real value of a used Chinese rug filled with urine? Perhaps $2 a square foot or less.

So the same rug is:

High retail $9,999

Retail is $2000

Wholesale price is $1000.

Fair Market is maybe $200. Keep in mind many other rugs hold their value much better than a 90 line Chinese rug.

As I reread this I think it worth saying that a dirty and stained or damaged 90 line Chinese rug has no market value.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Natural Green dye is a double dye

Before about 1920 there was never a good natural green dye. So to get green they had to use two dyes.

Certain colors are new colors and some are old. What I mean by that is think of flags. Before WWI almost all flags were Red, White, and Blue. Why? Because tthese were the color fast light stable colors.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Cabbage Rose Karabagh Kilim


This is a Kilim also called a Flatweave. It is a pileless rug. This is of a type and pattern that we see from Karabagh which is now Artsakh is an area held by the Armenians but is very much a disputed territory. At this point I think Artsakh as a country is only recognised by Armenia. Armenia has gained the reputation as the most corrupt country in the world. Artsakh is worse.
We see rugs similar to this from eastern Europe. They are called Bessarabian or Moldovian. The pattern is called "Cabbage Rose " in the trade.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Are Persian Rugs woven in Pakistan or India?


Are Persian Rugs woven in Pakistan or India?

No. Persian rugs are only woven in the country that we know today as Iran. Any other use of the term Persian Rug is WRONG. Indian rugs are woven in India and Pakistani rugs are woven in Pakistan. They can say “Persian Style” or “Indo Persian" but calling them Persian is dishonest.

Do companies call their Pakistani rugs “Persian”?
Yes some do and here is examples from Ten Thousand Villages
Types And Designs
PERSIAN
There are three major kinds of Pakistani knotted rugs: Bokhara, Persian and Tribal. Although these rugs have their differences, their durability and merit as fine, handcrafted rugs are the same.
http://rugs.tenthousandvillages.com/types_and_designs
Why are some of your rugs called Persian if they are made in Pakistan?
Our rugs are made according to Persian designs, but are made in Pakistan. Over the years people from Iran (Persia) have migrated east and taken their designs with them influencing the designs of rugs made in Pakistan.
http://rugs.tenthousandvillages.com/frequently_asked_questions#1025

Pak Bokhara Rugs


A Pak Bokhara Rug is a rug made in Pakistan using an interpretation of a Turkmen Pattern. Thee rugs are made with cotton warps and wefts. These rugs are often woven two up or more on a loom. This means that multiple rugs are woven as one then cut apart and then false selvages (side cords) are attached to the rug. These rug lack the structural integrity of a traditionally woven rug and this shortcut produces inherently flawed rugs.
The pile of these rugs is wool and normally wool is a good material for pile. But all too often this wool is not normal wool it is the worst of the worst. Wool is normally sheared from living healthy sheep but with these rugs they often use tabachi wool. This is wool from dead sheep. When sheep are butchered the hides are separated and soaked in Lye to remove the wool. The wool then falls off or is pulled. Lye is sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide which weakens the wool. Other uses of lye include drain cleaners and oven cleaner

These rugs take their name from the Khanate of Bokhara whichis the old name for Uzbekistan. This was a trade term for Turkmen rugs long ago. 

Friday, November 8, 2013

Fiber Guide for Oriental Rug Professionals


This ius my Fiber Guide for Oriental Rug Professionals. If you spot some I missed or could say better please feel free to let me know and I can update this:

Cellulosic Fibers

Cellulose is wood, cotton, plant material.

Cotton

Wild Cotton
Burns easily, does not self-extinguish and does not shrink from flame. The smoke is grey or white and smells like paper.  The ash is grey and it powders easily. It does not bead or melt.

Hemp


Burns easily and does not self-extinguish, does not bead or melt, does not shrink from flame. The flame is bright and the smoke smells like burning wood or leaves. The ash is powdery.
Hemp is a fiber from the Cannabis plant’s outer skin of the hemp plant. Traditionally it is a retted fiber where the fiber is taken from the outer skin of the plant by letting it rot in slow moving water.  Now it is often done mechanically using steam to separate the fibers.

Jute


Same as hemp - Jute is a fiber that comes from the Jute plant that grows primarily in India and Bangladesh. It is a retted fiber where the fiber is taken from the outer skin of the plant by letting it rot in slow moving water.  It grows easily in poor soil without needing to be watered.

Linen (Flax)


Similar to hemp and jute but is harder to light and can be easily blown out. Linen is a fiber taken from the Flax plant. Man has used Linen for the last 8,000 years. It is a retted fiber and the fibers are removed from the plant by letting it rot. As the plant breaks down the pulpy mass is easy to separate from the linen fibers which retain their strength. (If you are ever testing an Antique rug and the warps and wefts is Linen or Hemp it could be an English copy of an Oriental Rug and could be very important.)

Rayon/Viscous


It smells like burning paper and leaves soft, gray ash. It does not normally bead but the chemicals it is sometimes treated with can bead.
Rayon was invented in 1855 by Georges Audemars a Frenchman. He developed it by treating wood pulp with solvents and taking the cellulose and extruding and spinning it. It was first used as Artificial Silk.

Acetate, Triacetate


Burns hot and quick and can flare up even after the flame is extinguished. It shrinks from flame and beads up into a hard bead that does not easily crush. It burns with a black toxic smoke and smells of hot vinegar or burning pepper.
Acetate is extruded and spun cellulose from purified wood pulp. It is similar to rayon but it is more heavily treated with chemicals.

Protein Fibers

Protein means that they are animal fibers

Silk and Wool

Silk Worms

·         Both are protein fibers.
·         Both burn slowly and curl away from the flame. Wool burns hotter and sizzles. Wool has multiple beads and silk does one bead.
·         Both melt into a hollow dark bead. Both crush easily but with silk the bead crushes to fine powder but wool crushes to gritty powder.
·         Both smell like burning hair. But silk smells more like burnt meat and wool smells like burning feathers. Wool’s odor is more acrid.
·         Silk is one long continuous fiber and wool is many fibers twisted together.
·         Silk  Burned Silk Is a protein fiber which burns slowly and curls away from the flame. It leaves dark bead which can be easily crushed. It is self-extinguishing and leaves ash that is dark, gritty, fine powder. It smells like burned hair or charred meat. It gives out a little or no smoke and the fume has no hazard.
A Baluchi Breed Sheep
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Wool - Is a protein fiber which burns slowly. It sizzles and curls away from flame and may curl back. It leaves beads that are brittle, dark, and easily crushed. It is self-extinguishing and leaves harsh ash from crushed bead. It gives out a strong odor of burning hair or feathers. It gives out dark smoke and moderate fume.
Chlorox test:
Protein fibers will completely disolve if left in a Clorox Bleach (5% Sodium hypochlorite). Silk takes 20 minutes to disolve.
The Touch Test
Wool, Cotton, and most fibers feel room temperature when you touch then but Silk feels cool to touch.

Man-made Petroleum Based Fibers

Nylon, Polyamide

Shrinks from flame and melts. It leaves a grey bead that is very hard.  Caution should be used since Nylon drips and if it gets on skin it is hard to remove before a severe burn.  It leaves no ash and the smoke is toxic.
Nylon is a petroleum based fiber invented February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers a scientist at DuPont's research facility in Wilmington Delaware.

Polyester


Burns quickly and shrinks away from flame, may also flare up. It leaves hard, dark, and round beads. After the flame, it burns slowly and is not always self-extinguishing. It has a slightly sweet chemical odor. It leaves no ash but its black smoke and fume are hazardous.
Polyester Is a polymer produced from coal, air, water, and petroleum products. Two British chemists, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson invented Polyester in 1941 while working at Calico Printer's Association of Manchester.

Acrylic, also Modacrylic and Polyacrylic


Acrylic melts and curls away from heat. It is not usually self-extinguishing and melts and burns into a hard but brittle black bead with white smoke with a chemical smell. Modacrylic or modified acrylic is made in one long strand and then is chopped into shorter lengths and spun like wool. Modacrylic is self-extinguishing when the flame is removed.
Acrylic, also Modacrylic and Polyacrylic, are branded as Dralon, Montefibre, Fisipe, Acrilan (Monsanto), Creslan (American Cyanamid), and Orlon (DuPont).

Spandex


Melts but does not pull away from flame. It melts and burns even when the flame is removed and burns to a soft black ash. Burning Spandex gives off a chemical smell. Spandex is a Urethane based fiber but I do not know how exactly to categorize it so I put it in with the petroleum based fibers.

Some people in the business have asked why would I include Spandex in a Fiber Guide for Oriental Rug professionals. It is because I have seen recycled Spandex used in Afghan rug warps.