Turkish Rugs

What is an antique Turkish rug?

An antique Turkish rug is a hand-knotted or flatwoven rug made in Anatolia, the peninsula of modern Turkey, roughly 100 years ago or more. Scholars often prefer the term Anatolian, because it takes in the Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Kurdish weavers who all worked in the region. Turkish rugs were among the first carpets to reach Europe as luxury imports: 15th and 16th century Anatolian rugs appear so often in Renaissance paintings that some designs are still named after the painters, such as Holbein and Lotto. The oldest surviving Anatolian knotted-pile carpets are the 13th century fragments found in 1905 in the Alâeddin Mosque in Konya. For the full history, read our rugs of Turkey reference.

What are the main types of Turkish rugs?

Turkish weaving divides into court workshops, commercial export centers, village weaving and nomadic weaving, and each produced a different kind of rug. These are the groups you will find in our collection.

• Oushak. The great export center of western Anatolia. Its 15th to 17th century star and medallion carpets were admired across Europe, and its late 19th century revival carpets, woven in room sizes and oversizes, are among the most decorator-demanded antique rugs today. See our antique Oushak rugs guide.
• Kilims. Flatwoven rugs with no pile, made by weaving colored wefts tightly through the warps, most often in slit-weave. Anatolia has one of the richest kilim traditions, with bold medallions, hooked motifs and protective symbols. See our antique kilim guide.
• Ghiordes, Kula and Konya prayer rugs. Rugs built around the mihrab, the prayer niche. By the 18th century Ghiordes prayer rugs were sought after by European collectors; Ghiordes niches tend to be stepped and elegant, Konya pieces bolder and more archaic.
• Bergama and Yörük weaving. Village and nomadic rugs with an all-wool construction, glossy wool and large-pattern geometric designs in saturated madder reds and indigo blues. A Bergama may even be slightly wider at one end, from the changing tension of a portable ground loom.
• Yastik. Small cushion-format rugs, woven as pillow faces, that show the village design vocabulary at a small scale.
• Hereke. The court workshop tradition, using silk or very fine cotton foundations and very high knot density for a level of detail close to fine painting.

How can you tell if a Turkish rug is antique?

Start with the knot and the foundation. Turkish pile rugs use the symmetrical Ghiordes knot, and village and nomadic pieces are often wool on wool, which gives them a springy, supple handle. Then check the rest:

• Dyes. Before the late 19th century, Anatolian weavers colored their wool with madder reds, indigo blues and vegetal yellows that age into deep, luminous tones with visible abrash. Flat, uniform color and bright white cotton point to later production. Our natural vs synthetic dyes guide explains how to check.
• Wool. Hand-spun wool is slightly irregular, and good Anatolian wool, especially in Oushak, catches the light with a distinctive sheen.
• Drawing. Village rugs were woven from memory, not from a cartoon, so borders improvise their corners and motifs vary slightly. That irregularity is a mark in the rug's favor.
• Kilim structure. In a kilim, fine, crisp slits where two colors meet are a mark of good weaving, and true slit-weave kilims are usually reversible.
• Honest wear. Real age shows at the ends, the sides and the folds, and follows use. Evenly distressed or chemically washed surfaces point to reproduction.

For how age is established across all types, see antique vs vintage vs new rugs, and for what knot counts do and do not tell you, see rug knots and KPSI.

How do you decorate with an antique Turkish rug?

Match the type to the room: soft-toned Oushak carpets anchor living rooms in both traditional and contemporary interiors, bold village rugs and prayer rugs bring color to studies, bedrooms and entries, and kilims work on floors, walls and upholstery alike.

• Living rooms. A room-size or oversized Oushak warms a large space without dominating it. We hold more than 130 room-size Turkish rugs and more than 30 oversized carpets.
• Square rooms. Turkish weaving is unusually rich in square formats, from 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 up to oversized square carpets, which suit square rooms and round tables.
• Small spaces. Prayer rugs, yastiks and scatter-size village rugs suit a landing, a bedside or a reading corner, and look good grouped together.
• Kilims. Light and flat, they layer well over sisal or wall-to-wall carpet, hang easily on a wall, and upholster benches, ottomans and pillows.
• Get the size right. Our rug size guide explains how to measure, and every listing gives the measured size.

How do you care for an antique Turkish rug?

Put a good pad underneath, rotate the rug once or twice a year, vacuum gently without a beater bar, keep it out of prolonged direct sun, and have it washed by a rug specialist. Turkish wool is resilient, and a well-kept antique handles daily life well.

• Kilims need a non-slip pad. With no pile to grip, a flatweave slides easily on a hard floor.
• No steam cleaning. Blot spills at once with plain water, never rub or soak, and leave deeper cleaning to a specialist.
• Professional washing. Our rug cleaning service in Manhattan washes hand-knotted rugs and flatweaves with a pH-balanced process, after checking for old repairs and fragile areas.
• Moths. Moth larvae feed on wool in dark, undisturbed spots, including the underside of a rolled rug in storage. Our moth-proofing service washes the rug first and then treats the fibers.
• Shape. Village rugs woven on portable looms can be out of square. Blocking and stretching can help a rug lie flat.

Glossary of antique Turkish rug terms

These are the terms you will meet most often in our listings and guides for Turkish rugs.

Anatolia

The peninsula that makes up most of modern Turkey, also called Asia Minor. Many scholars prefer "Anatolian rugs" to "Turkish rugs."

Ghiordes knot

The symmetrical or Turkish knot, tied around two warps. Named for the town of Ghiordes (Gördes) in western Anatolia.

Kilim

A flatwoven rug with no pile, where the colored wefts form both surface and pattern. Read our kilim guide.

Slit-weave

The classic kilim technique, which leaves a small vertical slit wherever two color areas meet.

Mihrab

The prayer niche that gives a prayer rug its arch-shaped field, pointed in the direction of prayer.

Elibelinde

A motif of a stylized figure with hands on hips, common in Anatolian kilims and village rugs.

Yörük

The nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of Anatolia, whose rugs, bags and tent furnishings were woven for their own use.

Yastik

A small cushion-format rug woven as a pillow face.

Hereke

The court workshop tradition, known for silk and very finely knotted rugs.

Holbein and Lotto carpets

15th and 16th century Anatolian rugs, often from Uşak, named after the European painters who pictured them.

Angora wool

Lustrous fiber from the Angora goats of the Ankara region, used in some of the most prized 19th century Oushak rugs.

Abrash

Soft bands of tonal variation within one color, from changes in dye lot. A normal feature of naturally dyed wool.