Kevin Rahmanan founded Rugs On Net in New York in 1979. For more than four decades he has bought, restored and sold antique rugs, and he still looks at every rug that comes through our door. These are his stories, in his own words, from our Story Time series.
How did Kevin Rahmanan get into the rug business?
Kevin grew up around rugs. His father and his grandfather were in the rug trade, buying rugs and exporting them to Europe and America. As a young man he wanted something else: he was good with his hands, liked to fix things, and came to America to study electrical engineering. The classroom was not for him.
He had two job offers, one at a large rug importer and one at a smaller Manhattan dealer in antique rugs. He chose the smaller firm because he would learn more there, and the owner became his mentor. After 1979, with his family arriving in America, Kevin went out on his own. He traveled every week, buying rugs out of town and selling them in New York. That was the beginning of Rugs On Net.
Why does Kevin know how every rug is made?
Early on, Kevin was sent to the repair workshops with rugs that needed work, and he watched the restorers closely. Every rug is different and every repair is different, so the work takes judgment as well as skill. Over the years he learned rug structure completely: the knot, the warp and weft, the wool and how a rug was put together. That is why he can look at a rug and tell you how it was made, how it has been repaired, and what it needs.
What was the craziest rug deal Kevin ever made?
Upstate New York was Kevin’s buying territory. One day an antique dealer there showed him a small Turkmen rug, about four by six feet, and asked $1,100 for it, several times what rugs of that kind usually sold for. Kevin had never seen anything like it, but he could feel the age and the quality. He bought it, and instead of putting it in the trunk he drove home with it on the seat beside him.
Nobody could tell him what it was worth. A cousin guessed five to ten thousand dollars. A friend said it was rarer than that. Christie’s told him the Turkmen market was dead, so Kevin carried the rug to an evening auction in a shopping bag and asked a specialist to look. The next day the house called back: they had never seen anything like it. It turned out to be one of only four known in the world, and it sold for about $86,000.
What makes an antique rug valuable?
- Art, not just age. Being a hundred years old is not enough. A valuable rug needs a strong design and real beauty.
- Quality of materials. Fine wool and a good weave separate a collectible rug from a used one. Kevin credits the wool from high mountain sheep for the quality of antique Persian rugs.
- Rarity. An antique rug is one of a kind. The owner is the only person who has it.
- Care. A great rug that is looked after can hold its value for decades, while cheap rugs are bought and thrown away again and again.
Is there a rug Kevin regrets selling?
Early in his career, short on cash, Kevin partnered with his brother-in-law on a week’s buying. He paid about $4,000 for a green Amritsar Agra with a faded, water damaged corner, sure that once the color was restored it would be a $20,000 rug. While Kevin was out of town, his brother-in-law sold it for $5,000. They made a profit, and Kevin respected the decision, but that rug has stayed with him.
Work with Kevin
Kevin reviews every appraisal request and every rug offered to us. Send photos for a free rug appraisal, sell us your antique rug, or visit the showroom at 36 East 31st Street, 9th floor, New York, by appointment. More of Kevin’s stories are on our YouTube channel.
Watch: from our New York gallery
Kevin Rahmanan has been in the rug business since 1979. He introduces the collection: Chinese, Caucasian, American hooked, Heriz and Serapi, Kashan, Tabriz, Oushak, and oversized palace size rugs.
From a family in the rug trade to going out on his own after 1979: how Kevin Rahmanan started.
Kevin came to America to study electrical engineering. Instead he learned rug restoration and how every rug is put together.
Kevin Rahmanan paid $1,100 for a small Turkmen rug upstate. It turned out to be one of only four known in the world.
How the Turkmen rug went from a shopping bag at Christie's to a sale of about $86,000.
A green Amritsar Agra with a faded corner that Kevin knew could be a $20,000 rug, and how it was sold for $5,000 while he was out of town.
What separates a $1,000 rug from a $100,000 rug: museum quality, design, fine wool and a good weave.
Why antique Persian rugs stand apart: the culture, the natural dyes, and above all the mountain wool.
Why someone buys a rug over $50,000: a great antique rug, well cared for, can hold its value for decades.
A rare antique rug is not mass produced and you are the only owner, but age alone is not enough. It needs art and beauty.
More on our YouTube channel.