Oriental rugs come in many different forms and colours but mainly distinguishes itself in Persian rugs, antique oriental rugs, or hand knotted rugs. If you are looking for a rug to invest in it may be difficult to decide which one you should choose. The price of a rug is based on a number of special elements, which can't be seen by an untrained eye. Rug experts at Catawiki however are trained. Would you like to know how Catawiki experts value incoming rugs? This article will tell you all about it!
First, a carpet is valued by its size. Is it handmade or machine made? The machine made rug is considered to be bad quality. A handmade rug is seen as valuable. From there, experts look at where the rug is made or who made it. Catawiki experts do this by evaluating the images and the additional information given by the seller. This is the basis for further evaluation. Basically, there are 6 elements that determine the quality of a rug.
1. Knot Density
The knot count is based on the number of knots or nodes within the rug. A finely knotted rug is more expensive, but only if you compare rugs from the same origin. When there are 150,000 knots per square metre the rugs in will be valued for a big price. When a rug has more than 1,000,000 knots per square metre the rug is seen as expensive. Thus the more knots per square metre, the more value each rug has.
2. Materials used
Within the rug, a lot of materials are used. But the most valuable material used for the rug is silk. Other materials that are less valuable, but still are seen as fine materials, are Kurk wool and fine wool. The least valuable material that is used for an oriental rug is cotton. Most of the rugs use two of the following materials: silk, cotton, and wool. Silk and cotton are divided in pile, warp, and weft. Silk is seen as the most valuable material to use.
3. Design elements and colours
The design elements and colours are determined by the amount of details that covers the rug. A detailed rug needs a high knot density (compare it with the amount of pixels needed for bigger pictures).
4. Age
The age of the rug is a big element as well. The older the rug, the better the value. Rugs that are more than 100 years old get the most valuable points in the table scoreboard bellow. Rugs that less than 10 years old, don’t get any valuable points.
5. The condition of the rug
Rugs are used by standing on them and used as a decoration in people’s homes. Using furniture also means that the condition of the materials will be challenged. Rugs are valued as good, medium, bad, and very bad. Depending on the type of rug, one that is in bad shape could still be valuable. For example, an antique Ushak in bad condition could still be valuable. A 10-year-old India Tabriz in bad condition, on the other hand, is worthless.
6. Demand & availability
As said before, the demand and availability of a rug play a big role in determining the value. Mass produced rugs, on the other hand, are not. A rare antique rug is considered quite valuable.
Every rug is unique and different from each other, which means that is it is very difficult for an outsider to find out if he or she is paying an honest price. The rugs in the weekly Oriental Rugs Catawiki auction are examined by real rug experts. So go online and find your true rug match.