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Murray Eiland's Oriental Rugs has long been the standard introduction to oriental rugs. The authors have extended the range of the book by incorporating new material on Chinese and Indian rugs, and the text has been completely revised. The plates of all the illustrations have been remade, and many of the rugs shown are new to this edition. The book's focus is the nineteenth- and twentieth-century weaving of the Middle and Far East. This is introduced by a brief history of carpets, followed by a discussion of weaving techniques, dyes, and design. Traditional practices are described, along with modern innovations, such as computer-aided design. The use of synthetic dyes and the recent revival of natural dyes are given a balanced appraisal. The importance and methodology of technical analysis is firmly emphasized. The endmatter includes extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index. The book includes more than 330 color illustrations, the majority of them new to this edition. They show classic pieces along with others that are more likely to be available to readers. Where possible, the captions include a structural analysis.
Beautiful book, thorough monograph on oriental carpetsReviewed by Vincent Poirier, 2009-11-09
Caveat: You won't know a thing about rugs until you start to shop
around, until you start touching them. You'll have to look at the
knots, at the foundation and the edges, and run your hands over the
pile. You'll need to feel the difference between a silk weave and a
wool weave. That said, this book gives a thorough informational
grounding in the topic.
The book starts with an account of what little is known of the
origins of carpet making. The next chapter describes how carpets
are constructed. Weavers make short knots that form the visible
pile; the pile is woven on an invisible foundation of warps and
wefts. There are many types of knots, and surprisingly many types
of warps and wefts as well! The book then explains what materials
are used--mostly wool, cotton, and silk--how they are spun into
yarns, and how they are colored, with either natural or synthetic
dyes. The colors are of course central to a carpet's designs, which
is the topic of the following chapter.
The authors then proceed to review the great carpet making regions.
There's a huge chapter on Persian rugs, followed by a chapter on
Turkish rugs. These are followed by shorter chapters on the rugs of
the Caucasus, India & Pakistan, China, Turkestan, Tibet, North
Africa, and the Balkans.
Rugs are like wine, or like any fine object. One cannot learn the
topic from a book, one must learn from the things themselves. A
good book though is invaluable in reducing how long it will take to
feel comfortable with the topic.
One last word. There are 348 illustrations of extremely high
quality, making the book itself a very beautiful object. It's a
great coffee table book.
Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
Best introduction you can buyReviewed by Jackal, 2008-12-05
This is a classic, serious reference book on the different styles
of oriental carpets. All geographical areas are covered so it is a
great introduction to the field. It is probably the only book you
need to buy unless you become serious in collecting carpets.
There is a disconnect between the pictured carpets in the book and
the carpets you will find in a carpet shop. The pictures are of
older carpets. It would have been nice to have a stronger bridge to
what is actually available for purchase today. The hardest issue
buying modern oriental carpets is not to overpay. Sure there are
fakes, but if you go to a reputable dealer that is not a major
problem. However, even reputable dealers are hard to pin down on
price. Don't expect any such information in the book.
A good startReviewed by Olimpia, 2008-07-08
This book is a good introduction to rug basics, with rich illustration and good coverage of the main carpet-producing regions in Asia and the Middle-East. However, the book leaves much to be desired as a genuine tool to help one actually collect rugs. It gives out basic information in a general lecture-like fashion (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but does not really make an effort at reaching out to the reader in terms of the actual experience of buying/handling/trading carpets (which is definitely a bad thing). One glaring weakness is the paucity of information on Central Asian rugs outside of Turkmenistan (arguably because the book was written at a time when Central Asia was not as easily accessible as it is now). There is also, it must be said, a somewhat superior tone to the writing that is not necessary and does take away from the pleasure of reading on the subject. Still, all things considered, this is a valuable book to own.
Great way to get introduced to the world of rugsReviewed by Liza A. Copuyoc, 2008-01-11
This is an excellent way to learn about rugs from top to bottom -- it eases you slowly into a comprehensive knowledge of rugs. I feel that this will help me greatly in my work - I just started doing customer service for a rug company. Great buy to anyone who wants to be educated thoroughly on the business of rugs.
Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide - The Classic ReferenceReviewed by Adele F. Morse, 2007-03-29
Bought for myself as a tool to help teach myself about Persian rugs, this book is so wonderful I gave it as a housewarming present to a friend of mine, freshly divorced who is decorating his new house. Perfect! The authors, the Murray Eilands Jr. and III, a father and son team, are experts in their field. The father, a practicing psychiatrist in California, has been studying and collecting Oriental rugs for almost 40 years, and his son has a doctorate from Oxford in Near Eastern archeology (including textile development), so you would be learning from very special, knowledgeable accomplished folks who love their textiles and rugs. I recommend this book highly.
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