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The RugMan's Blog
Interpreting Signatures and Dates in Rugs- The RugMan's Blog
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
With over 3000 years of oriental rug history, it is often difficult to get a real
“history” of an individual rug. Sometimes we get lucky and find rugs that give
us real reference points for the history of the piece through signatures or
dates that are woven into the pattern.
Let’s start with signatures. Signatures in oriental rugs are usually woven
into the border or guard border of the pattern centered at one end of the rug.
Obviously, these signatures were meant to be noticed. Other times a
signature may be hidden, woven into the pattern so as not to be noticed in
the weavers attempt to take nothing away from a beautiful pattern.
The majority of the time, the writing is not indicative of the weaver’s name.
Usually, if it is a name at all, it is the name of the individual or family that
commissioned the weaving of the piece.
It is also very common to find signatures that bear the name of the mosque
or building that the piece was woven for. Some signatures are not really
signatures at all. They can be initials, company logos writing in script,
poems, city names, or verses from the Koran.
Signatures are generally woven into rugs in either Arabic or Farsi and are
often stylized into artistic writing similar to a very elegant cursive in English.
Arabic also utilizes another artistic form of writing called “kufic.” This text is
highly stylized and is often mirrored, making the text difficult, if not
impossible to read.
Does the signature make your rug more valuable? Not necessarily.
Regardless of what your rug dealer may tell you, a signature alone does not
add value to any rug. Here are a few things to remember in regards to
signature values:
Generally, signed rug will be what are considered “city rugs.” These rugs are
generally curvilinear, woven in metropolitan areas where a literate weaver
can be found to add the script or signature. Unfortunately, most people who
are born into the weaving culture will never have the opportunity or need to
learn to read and write. This makes signatures rare, but often woven
incorrectly or illegibly.
The value of a signature is also attributed to the name or writing on the
piece. Much like the fashion clothing world, a designer name can add great
value to a piece, while a lesser name can actually devalue a gorgeous rug.
Occasionally, we will find a rug that has a date woven into it. These are not
as limited to “city rugs” as much as a signature because counting and
writing numbers is easy to master and is much more necessary to everyday
life.
These dates are usually relatively easy to read once you have familiarized
yourself with Arabic or Farsi numbering and the Muslim Calendar. It is also
important to remember that unlike writing, numbers in the Arabic system can
be written both left to right and right to left.
So here is how we determine the date woven into an oriental rug.
First we must decipher the numbers, hopefully the script is written clearly
and legibly enough that they can be interpreted.
Use the diagram to help you interpret numbers.
Our western system of dating begins with the birth of Christ and is based
upon a solar year. Most of the time, however, dating in an oriental rug will be
based upon the Islamic calendar, which begins with the Hegira, Mohammad’
s flight from Mecca to Medina in July of 622 A.D.
For more recently woven rugs, the date can be converted by simply adding
622 years to the Islamic date.
For example. A rug with the date 1302 A.H. would be 1924 A.D. using the
following conversion: 1302 A.H. + 622 years = 1924 A.D.
For older rugs, other factors must be considered. Until recently, Islamic
countries used a lunar calendar instead of our system of a solar calendar.
The lunar system is shorter and we must therefore use a conversion factor
when dating our rugs. The lunar system gains one year every 34 years and
we will divide the date on a rug by 33.7 to give the correction amount.
For example: The same rug with the date 1302 A.H. would be 1886 A.D.
1302 A.H. / 33.7 = 38.6 year correction 1302 A.H. + 622 years – 38 years =
1886 A.D.
The change for most rug weaving areas from the lunar calendar to the solar
calendar took place in the 1920’s, so you must use a little judgment when
deciding which method to date your rug by.
Usually, the date on a rug can be taken as a reliable source of data, but
there are a few other factors that you must use judgement about. There is
always the possibility that the rug is a copy of an earlier rug. The date may
also memorialize something other than the date of the weaving of the rug,
such as an important religious date or the finish of a building that the rug
was to be placed in. You must also be very careful when interpreting the
number, changing just a few knots in a rug can make the difference of
centuries.
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
With over 3000 years of oriental rug history, it is often difficult to get a real
“history” of an individual rug. Sometimes we get lucky and find rugs that give
us real reference points for the history of the piece through signatures or
dates that are woven into the pattern.
Let’s start with signatures. Signatures in oriental rugs are usually woven
into the border or guard border of the pattern centered at one end of the rug.
Obviously, these signatures were meant to be noticed. Other times a
signature may be hidden, woven into the pattern so as not to be noticed in
the weavers attempt to take nothing away from a beautiful pattern.
The majority of the time, the writing is not indicative of the weaver’s name.
Usually, if it is a name at all, it is the name of the individual or family that
commissioned the weaving of the piece.
It is also very common to find signatures that bear the name of the mosque
or building that the piece was woven for. Some signatures are not really
signatures at all. They can be initials, company logos writing in script,
poems, city names, or verses from the Koran.
Signatures are generally woven into rugs in either Arabic or Farsi and are
often stylized into artistic writing similar to a very elegant cursive in English.
Arabic also utilizes another artistic form of writing called “kufic.” This text is
highly stylized and is often mirrored, making the text difficult, if not
impossible to read.
Does the signature make your rug more valuable? Not necessarily.
Regardless of what your rug dealer may tell you, a signature alone does not
add value to any rug. Here are a few things to remember in regards to
signature values:
Generally, signed rug will be what are considered “city rugs.” These rugs are
generally curvilinear, woven in metropolitan areas where a literate weaver
can be found to add the script or signature. Unfortunately, most people who
are born into the weaving culture will never have the opportunity or need to
learn to read and write. This makes signatures rare, but often woven
incorrectly or illegibly.
The value of a signature is also attributed to the name or writing on the
piece. Much like the fashion clothing world, a designer name can add great
value to a piece, while a lesser name can actually devalue a gorgeous rug.
Occasionally, we will find a rug that has a date woven into it. These are not
as limited to “city rugs” as much as a signature because counting and
writing numbers is easy to master and is much more necessary to everyday
life.
These dates are usually relatively easy to read once you have familiarized
yourself with Arabic or Farsi numbering and the Muslim Calendar. It is also
important to remember that unlike writing, numbers in the Arabic system can
be written both left to right and right to left.
So here is how we determine the date woven into an oriental rug.
First we must decipher the numbers, hopefully the script is written clearly
and legibly enough that they can be interpreted.
Use the diagram to help you interpret numbers.
Our western system of dating begins with the birth of Christ and is based
upon a solar year. Most of the time, however, dating in an oriental rug will be
based upon the Islamic calendar, which begins with the Hegira, Mohammad’
s flight from Mecca to Medina in July of 622 A.D.
For more recently woven rugs, the date can be converted by simply adding
622 years to the Islamic date.
For example. A rug with the date 1302 A.H. would be 1924 A.D. using the
following conversion: 1302 A.H. + 622 years = 1924 A.D.
For older rugs, other factors must be considered. Until recently, Islamic
countries used a lunar calendar instead of our system of a solar calendar.
The lunar system is shorter and we must therefore use a conversion factor
when dating our rugs. The lunar system gains one year every 34 years and
we will divide the date on a rug by 33.7 to give the correction amount.
For example: The same rug with the date 1302 A.H. would be 1886 A.D.
1302 A.H. / 33.7 = 38.6 year correction 1302 A.H. + 622 years – 38 years =
1886 A.D.
The change for most rug weaving areas from the lunar calendar to the solar
calendar took place in the 1920’s, so you must use a little judgment when
deciding which method to date your rug by.
Usually, the date on a rug can be taken as a reliable source of data, but
there are a few other factors that you must use judgement about. There is
always the possibility that the rug is a copy of an earlier rug. The date may
also memorialize something other than the date of the weaving of the rug,
such as an important religious date or the finish of a building that the rug
was to be placed in. You must also be very careful when interpreting the
number, changing just a few knots in a rug can make the difference of
centuries.
| Signature in the border of a fine Isfahan from Iran It reads: "Iran - Isfahan - Ahmad Jogaji" |
| This date translates into the Muslim Calendar date of 1350 or the Christian Calendar date of 1972. |
| A collection of Arabic and Farsi numbers used for dates. |
| Images for this blog courtesy of www.jacobsenrugs.com |
