Carpets

Exquisite carpets in traditional and contemporary designs, Namdas and hand-woven cotton durries are the popular floor coverings in India. These floor coverings are pleasing to the eye and soothing for the mind. India produces and exports more handicrafted carpets than any other country in the world. These carpets are admired all over the world not only for their original patterns, fine wool and rich colour, but also for being produced in large quantities of acceptable commercial quality. The weavers can produce any design on carpet. However, they have a few distinctive designs of their own like the Taj Mahal. These carpets are so exquisitely made that they are often used as wall hangings. The improvements in the techniques of washing have also given them a more lustrous shine. Bhadohi, Agra, Amritsar, Jaipur, Gwalior, Kashmir and West Bengal are the main centres from where the carpets can be bought. The Mughal emperors provided patronage to this art and this art flourished under their guidance. Agra was one of the oldest carpet centres and here, carpet making techniques and styles were highly advanced. The Persian motifs were liberally used on the carpets. The famous ‘Bootah’ motif was used very widely. Bootah means a cluster of leaves or a shrub. The inlaid Pietra Dura designs in the Shah Jahan’s palace, in the Red Fort, Agra are based on ‘carpet border’ design. The “calling out” or “pher bolna” system still prevails in Agra. In this system, the master weaver alone follows the design and keeps calling out to the weavers about colours to be used for each knot. The three high varities of high quality carpets are Persian (Ispahan & Kashan), Turkoman and Aubusson (French). Indo-Ispahan is done with the long leaf and flower and the Indo-Kashan is done with the small leaf and flower. In the Indo-Turkoman, the Mohra Bokhara is made with the typical octagonal patterns and the same colour is used in different shades. For example, a red background will have a dark blue border with two shades of blue, one light, another medium. Similarly, there may be two greens, two shades of browns and gold, etc. Sometimes, even four shades of one tint are also mixed.

India's best carpets are produced in Kashmir, where the carpets are crafted in the Persian style. Silk carpets are the speciality of Kashmir and are not available anywhere else in the world. The art of carpet making flourished under the rule of Mughal kings and today, it is a popular cottage industry in Kashmir. During winters, the families of craftsmen weave the beautiful carpets. And when the weather opens up, a large supply is available for customers. Uttar Pradesh is mainly known for the carpet making centers of Bhadohi and Mirzapur. The carpets produced here are regarded as India’s best and display a strong Mughal influence in terms of design, technique and style. The carpets are either made of pure wool or wool with a small percentage of silk to give it a shine (known as silk touch) or pure silk. The carpet industry in Shahjehanpur is only a century old and here, both cotton and woolen carpets are made. The woolen carpets come in three sizes, the ordinary with 16 knots, medium with 25 and the best with 36 knots. The designs are based on the old Persian styles. In some carpets, the overall ground colour is a clear soft scarlet and field is covered with flattened, irregularly lineated, separated and linked diamond shapes of warm golden yellow. The Tibetan refugees also provide a large supply of original Tibetan carpets. Tibetan craftsmen can be seen sitting on the Janpath in New Delhi selling their wares. The carpets of Rajasthan are also superb in workmanship and a popular export item. Raja Man Singh I of Amer pioneered carpet manufacturing in Rajasthan. When he brought several carpets from Afghanistan for his palace, he also invited artisans from there to train the local workers. As such, Jaipur, Bikaner and Amer became the main centres of carpet weaving. The carpet industry of Jaipur further received a boost during the rule of Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II. Jaipur is known for its quality carpets. The city has a large number of carpet centers and command a good export market. They are inspired by the Afghan carpets and designs are mostly Persian and Caucasian. The motifs consist of human figures, flora, fauna, landscapes and geometrics. 

Durries 
Hand-woven cotton durries also known as 'Puja durries' are the popular floor covering. These durries are known for their remarkable geometric patterns and colours. They not only cover large markets in India, but also in abroad. Exciting colours, forms, shapes, designs and vibrant images are the main features of this delightful art form. The durries can adorn any drawing room. They are washable too and have several uses, including decoration as wall hangings. The durries also expresses the imagination of the craftsmen of India. Namdas (soft woolen druggets), in various colours are decorated with embroidery and appliqué work. Rajasthani namdas are known for their simplicity and design. Namdas and durries are the speciality of the artisans of Rajasthan. The main production centre of Namdas and durries is Tonk. 

Jute Floor Covering
West Bengal is an important centre of world’s jute production. The craftsmen of West Bengal have made use of jute extensively in an exquisite manner to create several types of floor covering with several hues, sizes and designs, which represent Indian skills par excellence.

A carpet is any loom-woven, felted textile or grass floor covering. The term was also used for table and wall coverings, as carpets were not commonly used on the floor in European interiors until the 18th century. The hand-knotted pile carpet probably originated in central asia between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. Carpet-making was introduced to Spain in 10th century by the Moors. The Crusades brought Turkish carpets to all of Europe, where they were primarily hung on walls or used on tables. Only with the opening of trade routes in the 17th century were significant numbers of Persian rugs introduced to Western Europe.

Some use the words carpet and rug interchangeably. Historically, however, some have distinguished between carpet and rug based on size (the former being larger) or use (carpets on floors, rugs on beds or on the hearth). For the sake of clarity, some textile scholars also differentiate between carpets and carpeting. In this usage, the latter are wall-to-wall and are often woven or tufted as "roll goods", most often in 12 foot widths but sometimes in up to 15 foot widths. In the real estate and home improvement industries a distinction is made between carpet (or carpeting) and rug. The former indicates a covering that is affixed to a floor and the latter a floor covering that is loose-laid, most often for decorative purposes.


Carpet types
Swatches of machine-made carpetThe global carpet market for domestic and industrial end use is dominated by three manufacturing processes: Woven: The carpet is produced on a loom similar to woven cloth and is a cut pile. Normally many coloured yarns are used and this process is capable of producing intricate patterns from pre-determined designs. These carpets are normally the highest value on the market.
Tufted: The carpet is produced on a tufting machine using a single coloured or sometimes non coloured yarn. If non coloured yarn is used the carpet will be dyed or printed with a design as a separate process. Tufted carpets can be either cut pile, loop pile or a combination of both. Tufting machines produce many more metres of carpet per hour than weaving does and normally are at the low to medium end of the market. Modern tufting technology now enables the production of mainly basic geometric patterns.Needlefelt: These carpets are more technologically advanced. Needlefelts are produced by electrostatic attraction of individual synthetic fibers forming a unique carpet with extremely high durability. These carpets are normally found in the contract market such as hotels etc. where there is a lot of traffic.

A flatweave carpet is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. Types of oriental flatwoven carpet include kilim, soumak, plain weave, and tapestry weave. Types of European flatwoven carpets include Venetian, Dutch, damask, list, haircloth, and ingrain (aka double cloth, two-ply, triple cloth, or three-ply).
A hooked rug is a simple type of rug handmade by pulling strips of cloth such as wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric such as burlap. This type of rug is now generally made as a handicraft.On a knotted pile carpet (formally, a supplementary weft cut-loop pile carpet), the structural weft threads alternate with a supplementary weft that rises from the surface of the weave at a perpendicular angle. This supplementary weft is attached to the warp by one of three knot types (see below) to form the pile or nap of the carpet.

In the late 19th century moquette came to mean wall-to-wall carpeting. However, its historical usage refers to supplementary warp cut or uncut loop pile made on a draw loom (aka Velour d'Utrecht, Brussels, Wilton, bouclé, and Frisé). These textiles have a low pile and are thinner than hand knotted pile carpets. This form of carpeting, made as early as the 16th century, is constructed on a mechanized loom like velvet: the supplementary warps loop under the weft and are attached without forming a knot. Because of the loom structure only five colors can be used to create the design. Moquette is woven in relatively narrow panels (usually 27" or 36"). Larger works are composed of several stripes sewn together. Moquette carpets have been used on floors, tables, as furniture upholstery, and wall coverings. Production was improved with the application of the Jacquard mechanism (see Jacquard loom) in 1812 in France and c. 1825 in England. The addition of steam power in the mid-19th century further improved manufacturing capabilities.

Swatches of Berber carpetUnlike woven carpets, embroidery carpets are not formed on a loom. Their pattern is established by the application of stitches to a cloth (often linen) base. The tent stitch and the cross stitch are two of the most common. Embroidered carpets were traditionally made by royal and aristocratic women in the home, however, there has also been some commercial manufactory since the 16th century. That century saw a rise in production due to the introduction of steel needles (earlier needles were made of bone) and improvement in linen weaving. Mary Stewart Queen of Scots is known to have been an avid embroiderer. 16th century designs usually involve scrolling vines and regional flowers (for example, the Bradford carpet). They often incorporate animal heraldry and the coat of arms of the maker. Production continued through the 19th century. Victorian embroidered carpet compositions include highly illusionistic, 3-dimensional flowers. Patterns for tiled (composed of a series of squares) carpets, called Berlin wool work, were introduced in Germany in 1804. They became extremely popular in England in the 1830s.