We have been working hard on our mobile website which will automatically come up on mobile devices for ease of use of the website; customers can easily revert to the full site if they prefer, by clicking the black bar at the bottom of the mobile site. Tablets will automatically bring up the full site as they render well on tablets, ipads etc. We hope you like the new mobile version.
In addition to the existing four lamp sections we now have a new section called "All Lamps" where you can find ALL our lamps in one place.
In addition, we have also set up a permanent "Latest Arrivals" section where you can see the latest items uploaded to the website. This can be found on the Navigation Bar at the top of the site.
Turkish Mosaic Hanging Lamps and Table Lamps Now In!
Our long awaited Turkish Mosaic Glass Hanging Lamps and Table Lamps have finally arrived and are now all uploaded to the website. There is an excellent collection of colours and designs from small to large sizes. Check out the lamp sections of the website.
For Turkish Mosaic Hanging Lamps Click Here
For Turkish Oriental Plain Coloured Glass Hanging Lamps Click Here
For Turkish Mosaic Table and Floor Lamps Click Here
Kilim Runners and Rugs & Kuchi Tribal Choker Necklaces
The new consignment includes Vegetable Dyed Kilims in all sizes including hallway runners, as well as some good value Moshwani, Maimana and Baluch Rugs and Runners. You can see all the latest arrivals in the Latest Arrivals Section of our website, or alternatively you are able to see them in their allocated category, ie Runners are in the Runner section etc.
In addition, there are some lovely Tribal necklaces which have just arrived, they are very glamorous tribal necklaces that certainly makes a statement! More jewellery can be seen in our Tribal Jewellery Section.
We would like to thank all our customers for their support throughout 2013 and wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy 2014.
Soon we will have our Lamp delivery arriving, so lots to be excited about. You can see the Latest Arrivals here and as soon as we have time we will upload the other new items, or visit our shop to see them straight away!
New delivery now in which consists of some beautiful hand woven vegetable dyed kilims and corridor runners to name a few - see more here in our Latest Arrivals Section.
Plus much more. We will send out a newsletter once all the goods are in our shop, please subscribe to our newsletter to receive a copy.
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We thought we would share these interesting images of the Persian Carpet Bazaar in Tabriz that were published in an article in the Payvand News and were taken by Farshid Tighehsaz, ISNA
The Bazaar of Tabriz is one of the oldest bazaars of the Middle East and the largest covered bazar in the world. It was inscribed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2010.
Tabriz has been a place of cultural exchange since antiquity. Its historic bazaar complex is one of the most important commercial centres on the Silk Road. Located in the centre of the city of Tabriz, Persia, this spectacular structure consists of several sub-bazaars, such as Amir Bazaar (for gold and jewellery), Mozzafarieh (a carpet bazaar), a shoe bazaar, and many other ones for various goods.
Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex, located along one of the most frequented east-west trade routes, consists of a series of interconnected, covered brick structures, buildings, and enclosed spaces for a variety of functions - commercial and trade-related activities, social gatherings, and educational and religious practices. Closely interwoven with the architectural fabric is the social and professional organization of the Bazaar, which has allowed it to function over the centuries and has made it into a single integrated entity.
Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex has been one of the most important international places for commercial and cultural interchange, thanks to the centuries-old east-west trading connections and routes and to a wise policy of endowments and tax exemptions.
Tabriz Historic Bazaar bears witness to one of the most complete socio-cultural and commercial complexes among bazaars. It has developed over the centuries into an exceptional physical, economic, social, political, and religious complex, in which specialized architectural structures, functions, professions, and people from different cultures are integrated in a unique living environment. The lasting role of the Tabriz Bazaar is reflected in the layout of its fabric and in the highly diversified and reciprocally integrated architectural buildings and spaces, which have been a prototype for Persian urban planning.
We found this article from the Independent newspaper and thought it might be interesting to anybody interested in Persian Rugs and Carpets.
Persia’s tragic carpets: Industry hit by sanctions and economic crisis - the rug industry is the country’s second largest exporter, but is now struggling.
by JASON REZAIAN (Saturday 20 July 2013)
The vast bazaar in the Persian capital Tehran is home to, by most estimates, the highest concentration of handmade rugs in the world, with millions piled high in more than a thousand shops in a labyrinth of ancient passageways.
Persia’s rug exports, however, are declining – revenue was down 17 per cent last year – as are the number of people employed in the industry. Many associated with the trade believe its survival is threatened.
The centuries-old industry has been hit hard by repeated economic crises in recent years, as well as by sanctions imposed by the United States, formerly the biggest market for Persian carpets. Even in Persia, cheaper, machine-made rugs are starting to outsell handmade ones. The industry’s decline is just one more problem facing the Islamic republic’s president-elect, Hassan Rouhani, when he takes office in early August.
Persian carpet experts are calling on the government to boost the image of the hand-woven rugs in countries other than the US.
“We expect the new government to assign enough of a budget for our promotional campaigns to better introduce Persia’s rugs internationally,” Mojtaba Feyzollahi, marketing deputy of the Persian National Carpet Centre, says.
Ali-Reza Ghaderi, the founder and director of the Tehran-based Persian Carpet Think Tank, agreed that officials should concentrate on promoting exports. “The problem is not production, but marketing and selling,” says Mr Ghaderi.
After energy products, handmade rugs are Persia’s most important export, accounting for $560m (£368m) last year, which amounts to about 20 per cent of the global handmade rug market.
But not all Persian analysts think the government should support the ancient craft.
“I don’t think this is an industry that the country needs to protect, as it does not produce good jobs that young people should be seeking,” says Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economics professor at Virginia Tech who visits Persia regularly. But the industry employs about 2 million Persians, and an estimated 10 per cent of the population benefits economically from some aspect of the rug business, according to the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade. That makes its preservation essential, at least for now.
In addition to merchants, the industry generates jobs for repairmen and the deliverymen who scurry around the bazaar with rusty handcarts brimming with inventory.
In Tehran and across Persia, however, the number of people in the industry is decreasing, according to experts.
“The rug bazaar is being eaten by the clothing bazaar, which borders us,” says Hossein Hosseiny, a 31-year-old third-generation rug merchant, as he navigates through crowds of people sifting through stacks of garments in the shops that are taking over much of the old bazaar.
Trading in clothes made in China and Turkey is more lucrative than selling Persian rugs, so clothing importers are willing to pay exorbitant rents – more than $2,000 per month – for stalls measuring less than 100 square feet in some highly trafficked areas of the bazaar.
Although many of his fellow merchants are abandoning the rug trade, Mr Hosseiny says he has no intention of quitting. He, like many other Persians, considers carpets a vital part of the country’s heritage.
“In this tough economy, some consider switching to a more profitable business, but then what will happen to art and those jobs which are rooted in our tradition?” he asked. “I try not to lose my hope. I have to think about not only helping myself, but also my country and the art of rug making, with hope for the future.”
Like many in the business, Mr Hosseiny was exposed to rug making at an early age, spending hours in his father’s shop, developing an extensive knowledge of rugs produced in various parts of Persia.
At 18, he embarked on three years of travel throughout Persia to learn what he did not know. “In almost every corner of Persia, people weave rugs,” he says.
His knowledge of types of carpets has become an important advantage, as most rug merchants here deal in merchandise from particular regions, usually where they have family ties.
Many of them are being forced out of business because their inventory is limited, including only a small number of styles and colours. Persia’s rug exporters have difficulty competing with the variety of styles produced by similar industries in other countries.
Sanctions against Persia are also having a deep impact on the business. Banking sanctions and a 2010 embargo on Persian rugs by the US government are impeding merchants’ ability to sell goods abroad and transfer the proceeds home.
This is bad not only for the rug business, but also for Persia’s image, according to Mr Hosseiny.
“Rugs can be a great ambassador for this country,” he says. “When someone buys a rug and takes it home to their country, other people see its beauty and hear its story, and it gets them interested in Persia.”
The archaic industry, which has changed little since Mr Hossainy’s grandfather started his business half a century ago, also suffers from the rising cost of labour and the difficulty in importing materials such as silk and some dyes.
Producers hope the government will give them assistance in marketing and access to better health insurance for weavers, who can suffer joint and back injuries, among other problems.
“We have to care for our industry like a farmer grows a tree, ensuring that in the future we can continue to pick its fruit,” Mr Hosseiny says.
Carpet experts and economists say that Persia’s rug production may ultimately return to being what it was when it started, a specialised art form.
“Eventually, as a handicraft, it must go upscale and produce carpets for high-income people. In that phase, it will be employing very few people and will not be part of the national industries to protect,” Mr Salehi-Isfahani says.
Persian carpets
$560m exports of handmade Persian carpets
2 million Persians employed in industry
10% population benefits
The BBC reported on a recent Sotheby's sale!
6 June 2013
A 17th Century Persian rug has sold for $33.8m (£21.8m), a sum triple the previous auction record for a carpet.
The winning bid for the Clark Sickle-Leaf Carpet was made anonymously on Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York.
William Clark, an industrialist and US senator from Montana, had bequeathed the carpet and other items to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1926.
The Washington DC museum will use proceeds from the sale of that and 24 other rugs to fund future acquisitions.
The previous sale record was $9.6m for a Persian rug sold by Christie's in London in April 2010.
Sotheby's had forecast the sale price as high as $9m, and four bidders fought for more than 10 minutes over the carpet. The winning bid came over the telephone.
In a statement, Corcoran's director said the museum was "thrilled" by the results of the auction. The museum had held the carpet and several others in storage.
The carpet, dated to the first half of the 17th Century, is believed to be from Kerman in south-east Persia. It was last displayed in the Corcoran in 2008.
The auction house said the carpet had one of the most rare "vase" technique patterns and appeared to be the only known such rug with a red background.
BBC News (US & Canada)
The Turkish term “Yastik” means cushion or pillow and is also used to describe small Turkish wool rugs that have a hand knotted front and a flat weave Kilim on the reverse. These small oriental weavings are found across Central and Eastern Turkey including regions such as Konya, Malatya and Sivas.
In the nomadic way of life, Yastiks were used as storage bags for clothing, dried grasses or as cushions by yöruk (nomadic) people and you can often find remnants of straw on the inside, despite them being cleaned and washed! In village houses they would be used on a raised platform as cushions to support the back. These hand knotted pile Yastiks were woven by women in the form of miniature carpets and were produced on narrow looms.
The designs used in these small rugs would be based on the interpretation of the weaver and would include folkloric, superstitious and religious motifs that would have been passed down through the generations. Over the years designs and motifs would alter and would be re-invented due to changes within a tribe or group of people such as members of different tribes mixing and co-existing. Often each tribe or village would have their own unique design that would mostly be used by that group or tribe, hence we can still often recognise where individual pieces originate from.
Over time weavers started using machine made fabric on the reverse instead of flat woven Kilim which meant it was cheaper to produce these items, this explains why there are many of these Yastiks that do not have a reverse (the machine made fabrics having been removed) thus leaving very beautiful, utilitarian small sized hand knotted rugs for the floor.
We have been selling these Yastiks for many years. The “backed” pieces make excellent large floor cushions or thick little rugs for the floor. The single sided pieces are excellent, functional small Turkish rugs that can slot into small spaces and liven up or soften a bare floor. Unfortunately Yastiks are not widely made anymore and it is becoming increasingly hard to source them.
Examples of our Turkish Yastiks (with backs) can be found in our Turkish Floor Cushion section. Examples of the single sided Turkish Yastiks can be found in our Small Pile Rugs section.
We thought it would be interesting to post some information on some of our more unusual rugs and we have started with Turkish Tulu rugs which are certainly different!
"Tulu" meaning "hairy" are the mattresses of Turkish and Kurdish shepherds who spend the summer in the mountains out of doors with their flocks. The shaggy side of the Tulu kilim rug being placed on the ground as insulation. The wool comes from the Angora goat and in Turkish is called ‘tiftig’. The sheen and the pattern structure give these pieces a charm of their own. They are usually long haired and are brightly dyed garish pieces, to discourage evil spirits.
Tulus come from the Karapinar, Konya region of Central Turkey (Central Anatolia) and have a primitive directness of all nomadic weavings made purely for local domestic use.
We have a great new stock of wonderful vintage, handwoven Tribal Carpet Cushions.
These are becoming so hard to find these days and we are very excited when we find them! They are very popular and we sell these all over the world as well as in our Brighton shop. These are displayed in the "Latest Arrivals" and the "Carpet Cushion" sections of our website.
We cannot accept any rug and carpet cleaning/repairs from Wednesday 5th March 2013 until Monday 25th March 2013 inclusive. We are happy to receive and rugs for cleaning and repairs from Tuesday 26th March 2013. This is due to staff holidays and we apologise for any inconvenience.
So, we have been very busy over the last week preparing lots of Turkish Kilim Cushions in readiness for uploading onto our site. We have finally got them online, so for those of you who would be interested in having a browse through you will find them in the Turkish Kilim Cushion section by clicking the picture opposite:
We are eagerly awaiting the delivery of our goods, as we are getting low on our stock of Maimana Kilims and inexpensive Herat Baluch rugs. New stock to include:
Watch this space - we plan to post news and articles about Handmade Rugs, Textiles, Our Travels, Our Shop, and anything else we feel our customers may like to hear about!
