Customer Reviews

Oriental Carpets: From the Tents, Cottages and Workshops of Asia

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book to learn about oriental carpets, and it provides a good general reference for both first time and experienced buyers. It is well written and well-organized. I have the larger format hard copy, which shows off the 180(!) excellent photos of a large variety of both new and old carpets, and the people who make them. The quality of the photos are the best I have found among the many carpet books I've read and looked through. At the back are two informative 2-page maps showing the main carpet-making areas of Turkey, the Middle East, China & Mongolia. Note that this book is not a complete lexicon of carpets, so it is less useful for someone who wants to look up a particular carpet name, spelling, or style. Highly recommended, especially the hard copy published in 1988, if you can find it.

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I like rug books -- my wife and I went to a rug show

and came home with almost $600 (!!) worth -- in fact, I sprained my

back getting them out to the car. This book was, without question,

the best deal of the bunch -- you might be surprised how small a

stack $600 worth of books can be (OK, one of them was $250, our

"big" Xmas gift to each other, & the most expensive book we've

ever bought.)

You'll recognize this book in the store by the wonderful cover

photo of two cheerful Turkoman girls knotting a carpet. This is

one of the strengths of the book -- lots of photos of rug weavers at

work, and how they live, both modern and historic. The second

strength -- lots and lots of gorgeous color photos of rugs! They're

not quite as good as the $250 book, but pretty darned close. Third,

Mr Thompson writes in a clear, wry, direct fashion that's a joy to

read -- a refreshing contrast to the garbled, turgid and/or purple

prose you may have seen in other rug/art books. Here's a sample

from the appendix on buying advice, "Closing-down Sales":

"This new method of selling carpets... is based on the very simple

principle that avarice, cupidity and greed are unfailing sources of

positive motivations in human beings..."

If you have any interest in Oriental rugs, you *need* this book. If

you don't think you're interested, do yourself a favor & check it

out from the library. Would that more art books were like this....

review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman

Pete Tillman, a long-time textile collector, once wrote (and sold!) a

science-fiction story based on Oriental rugs.

Note: this is a repost of the review just below -- I've lost the account name

I had then, and so can't revise or delete it. Sigh

This is an older book, but is one of the most informative and delightful books on the world of Oriental Rugs. Here's why:

- Process not just Product: Thompson provides surprisingly ample coverage on where the rugs come from, how they are made, and the idiosyncracies of local culture

- Excellent photos: you could certainly buy some big coffee-table book with more deluxe images of rugs, but at 176 pp, there are some stunning rugs here photographed so that the textures and colors in the rugs really shine

- History: again, for a book of this length, there is an ample amount of historical perspective offered

176 pp, large format trade paperbacks, color illustrations throughout.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Western Interest in the Eastern Carpet

Making a Carpet

Tribal and Domestic Weavings

The Cottage Industry

Workshop or Town Carpets

Court Carpets

Symbolism

Notes for Buyers and Sellers

Glossary

Notes

Maps

Index

You'll recognize this book in the store by the wonderful cover photo of two cheerful Turkoman girls knotting a carpet. This is one of the strengths of the book -- lots of photos of rug weavers at work, and how they live, both modern and historic. The second strength -- lots and lots of gorgeous color photos of rugs!