This categeory refers to rugs woven in village workshops or homes or by nomadic
people rather than the more formal types of rugs woven in the cities. Because
they tend to not be as finely knotted as the "city rugs," the designs
of the village or tribal rugs are usually geometric. The rugs we refer to
as "tribal" rugs often suit the lifestyle and taste of people in
the Northwest with their informal lifestyles and use of natural materials
in the home. We have many examples of these kinds of brightly colored, geometric
and open-design rugs, which include the Caucasian rug designs, the kilims
and the Gabbeh.
One of the most exciting developments in the rug world
in the last 20 years has been the re-introduction of handspun wool and natural
dyes, materials like madder root, indigo, cochineal. There are many rugs available
which are being called "vegetable-dyed," both in the geometric designs
as well as the more formal, curvilinear designs. The best are pieces of glowing
beauty. A good vegetable-dyed rug lights up a room and brings it alive. In
addition, the natural dyes are believed to be more durable and light-fast
than any of the chemical or aniline dyes. Our customers often comment that
the natural-dyed rugs have "character." This is in part because
the handspun yarns take up the dyes in an uneven way that creates variation
in the color areas. The vegetable dyes are often not consistent so that there
can be differences between one batch of yarn and another, which can create
subtly different areas of color in a rug, which is called "abrash."
In general, the natural-dyed rugs tend to be more expensive than the chemically-dyed rugs. However, we have some remarkably well-priced examples to show you.