Our Tibetan rugs (see Tibetan & Gangchen Tibetan) are woven of lustrous, long-staple sheepswool from the Tibetan Plateau where the sheep are reared in the high-altitude Himalayas. With an average elevation of 14,800 feet, the Tibetan Plateau is sometimes called “the Roof of the World,” and is the world’s highest and largest plateau.  It comprises an area four times the size of France and covers most of Tibet, Qinghai Province in western China, and part of Ladahk.

The Tibetan Plateau is an ecological region of enormous significance both at the local level for Tibetan herders and farmers, and at the national and even global levels for biodiversity conservation. At the highest altitudes, conservation and management of water resources are particularly significant, as around 40 percent of the world’s population is found within the watersheds of the rivers originating on the Tibetan Plateau.

In addition, the Tibetan Plateau ecosystems influence on a large scale atmospheric patterns, such as the Asian monsoon and high-altitude jet streams. The area is also home to many unique habitats and to numerous endangered wildlife species.

Local inhabitants in the region, especially Tibetan herders and farmers (as well as several other ethnic groups), deserve increased attention for reasons of equity in development in the context of rapid globalization – and also because so little is known in the rest of the world about the people and cultures of the Tibetan Plateau region.

We became aware of an organization known as Machik through one of our rug importers, Chris Walter and Yayla Tribal Rugs, who has been a significant supporter through sales of his all natural-dye Tibetan rugs. Machik is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities on the Tibetan plateau. Their work is organized at a grassroots level around six themes: Education, Conservation and Green Technology, Women's Initiatives, Economic Opportunities, Multimedia and Digital Technology, and Social Entrepreneurship.

DONATE
 -- You can help strengthen communities on the Tibetan plateau by making an online donation to Machik (www.machik.org). Or send a check payable to "Machik,” 1609 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 400,
Washington, DC 20009, USA



Machik.org

The art and craft of the tribal knotted pile carpet probably began among the pastoral nomads or herding people of central Asia who moved their sheep or goats between winter quarters and summer pasture. Their livelihoods were centered around their animals, and the items they made from their wool were absolutely essential to their lives: the walls of their tents, ropes, bags and containers of all sorts, rugs for the floor, clothing, and a variety of household items. The weaving of these things was also a medium for artistic expression and they lent so much color and beauty to the everyday lives of these nomadic people. 

The first tribal piled rugs or carpets may have imitated the texture and insulating properties of animal pelts. The oldest complete carpet was found in the frozen tomb of a nomadic chieftain at Pazyryk in southern Siberia. It has been dated to the 5th century B.C. and can be seen in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Many of the nomadic people have settled down over the centuries, and the longer they've been settled, the more diluted by other influences the designs have become. This has also been because of the migrations of peoples due to political upheavals all over the world.

The term "tribal" used with rugs refers mainly to weavings made for personal use within a community. As nomadic peoples settled down, rug weaving became more of a cottage industry and rugs started to be produced as a means of livelihood. As the weavers have become subject to selling pressures, market demand has become such an influence that it has overridden communal tradition. 

These "tribal" pieces that we present here in our online store are really in the tribal style: the gabbehs, Balouch soumaks, Qashgai designs, all based on the weaving techniques and designs of the nomadic people of Iran but most probably made in village workshops and cottage weaving industries. With a few exceptions, some of the spontaneity of the antique Persian tribal pieces has surely been lost -- but those exceptions are out there still!

The supply of these rugs is very limited and what you see on this site from Iran you won't see again because of the embargo on Persian rugs.  We've chosen to feature these Balouch Soumak and Gabbeh-type rugs, even though they're unique and can't be duplicated in the much more profitable "programmed" rugs, because we feel they lend a special interest and beauty to our store.

Unlike cottage weavers, workshop weavers, or city weavers, the tribal weavers achieve expressive power in their rugs through the use of color, space and proportion. The best examples are very appealing and very creative as they are one-of-a-kind works of art.  Unlike the other more refined types of rugs, they are woven without a graph -- each piece is a creation of the weavers imagination. Many of the tribal rugs, such as the Gabbehs or Kashkuli rugs, are also woven on more primitive looms than the more refined types of carpets.  Often these looms were designed to be rolled up and unrolled when the nomadic herders arrived at new grazing grounds.

Some of these rugs, such as the older gabbehs, are reminiscent of animal pelts -- thick and shaggy. Some historians believe pelts were the inspiration for these primitive types of rugs.

The Rugs we show here are modeled after gabbeh designs, including the Balouch soumak rugs. (The rugs previously known as Balouch soumaks are much more muted.) These are interpretations of gabbeh designs done with vegetal dyes in knotted pile combined with a fine soumak weave. When they're done well, these modern-day versions of the gabbehs and Balouch soumaks have great appeal to western rug buyers because of their spontaneity and charm as well as value as pieces of wonderful art.

***A caveat from A Rug For All Reasons: The photographs of these rugs don't represent these rugs as well as they could. While we aren't happy to have photographs that don't show a rug to its best advantage, our devotion to these rugs surpasses those considerations. We feel that you'll understand how special they are, even with the limitations of the photos. 

When the old Gabbehs became rare, Gholamreza Zollanvari started to work together with the Gashgai Nomads to produce new ones. By this time, the natural dyes had disappeared along with the use of handspun wool. Zollanvari started producing the Gabbeh with handspun wool, vegetable dyes and in european sizes. That is why, still today, Gholamreza is called “the father of the modern Gabbeh.” They have found tremendous popularity in Europe and the Americas. Unfortunately, because of the embargo on Persian rugs in the United States, these are the last of this type of tribal rug from Iran that we may see for sale here -- ever.

View our Persian Tribal collection

The following books give you a good overview of the history of the patterns, the carpets and the nomads:

• The Nomadic Peoples of Iran, Author: Richard Tapper, Jon Thompson

• Lion Rugs from Fars and Other Poems, by Virginia E. Smith and Dan River 

• Nomads of Luristan: History, Material Culture, and Pastoralism in Western Iran (The Carlsberg Foundation's Nomad Research Project)

• Gabbehs. Stammesteppiche der Bergnomaden am Zagros. (Text in englisch und deutsch) von Hamid Sadighi, Karin Hawkes, und Robin Hawkes von Wasmuth

• 99 Teppiche - The Cremer Collection: Gabbeh, Baluchi and Tibetan Rugs

• Tribal and Village Rugs. The Definitve Guide to Design, Pattern and Motif by Peter Stone

Tibetan wool at it's finest

Start with the best material and you get the best result. That's why Gangchen rugs are made exclusively from the finest Changphel or Tibetan Highland sheep wool. Prized for its thick, long fiber, outstanding tensile strength, and high luster, this wool is absolutely the best for carpets.

Not all wool is created equal. Just as the grain of beautiful wood is the distinguishing factor in contributing to a wonderful piece of furniture's look and inherent value, the special quality of the wool in Gangchens is the factor that distinguishes these extraordinary rugs. The fibers of the wool are thick and long, averaging six inches in length, and the exceptional thickness of these fibers adds to the luster of the Gangchens. 

The cuticles or scale-like structures on the fibers of these Tibetan Highland sheep are larger than those found on other sheep. Large scales mean a smoother surface, which is more reflective of light, better at displaying the color and at creating a splendid sheen and a radiant luster, unique to Gangchens alone.

No other fiber takes and holds dye like Tibetan Highland sheep wool. The dyes actually seep into the core of the fibers, dyeing them from the inside out, so the colors are richer, more saturated, and more vibrant.

These rugs are a beautiful marriage of traditional design and construction with simplicity of design, vibrant color, and unsurpassed quality that are so perfect for the well-loved home of today.

Rolling up a rug is a convenient way to store it, as well as a step in preparation to shipping a rug. It's an easy process:

The rug-making world has been immersed in a swirl of change for many years. People in the rug-weaving countries have been subject to the whims of political changes, movements of peoples, the dictates of style and taste. There have been two embargoes on Iranian (Persian) rugs, one of which is currently in place.  

Because the west was not able to acquire Persian rugs for so many years in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the weavers of other countries, notably Pakistan, India and China, began making rugs emulating the Persian designs.  

9/11 drove many of the weavers in Paksistan and Afghanistan out of work because of the disappearing market in the west for their rugs. The refugee Afghani weavers in Pakistan returned to Afghanistan, some of them continuing to practice their trade.  

When the crash of 2008 occurred, much of the middle class in the west stopped investing in art and high-quality objects such as handmade rugs. The weavers have had to find other work, partly because of less demand, but also because many of the weavers have gone into jobs where they can make equal or better pay for less difficult and demanding work, such as jobs in the technology field. As fewer people make rugs, there are fewer high-quality rugs in the marketplaces of the world, prices gradually are increasing, and fewer people are able to experience the joy of seeing and owning this type of rug, especially the younger generation.

As part of our mission, A Rug For All Reasons hopes to provide a source of information about handmade rugs as well as a source for acquiring really good rugs.  Hand-knotted rugs are expensive, but we strive to keep our prices as reasonable as possible. We hope to enable the weavers to continue producing rugs that are not only durable and beautiful but also represent an age-old, traditional art.

To learn more about handmade rugs, visit our Rug Info section, starting with our article on "What is an Oriental rug?," as well as our blog article "A Short History Of Rugs."