Customer Reviews

Oriental Rugs from A to Z (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start with the positives. The book is large with absolutely beautiful images of rugs inside. The color plates are fantastic and high quality, and the book is well made overall. The images let you see a wide variety of rugs and definitely provide a good range of rugs, though far from a comprehensive one. The book is great if you are interested in Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, or Nepalese rugs. The author has some good discussion on selecting the right rug and caring for them as well.

However, the selection of Iranian/Persian rugs is poor, and the author is a big fan of the chemical fading process used by some rug producers to "antique" the look of a new rug. The vast majority of the rugs in the book are faded, antiqued ones, and there are very few examples of the vibrant examples produced in Iran in particular. Silk rugs are only a small, nearly overlooked section, and the author glosses over that large segment of rugs (including not really discussing rugs with silk highlights and wool rugs with silk weft). The author also lumps Persian rugs into one section and never even touches on the differences in cities within Iran: Isfahan, Nain, Tabriz, Qom, etc. To me, that's an inexcusable omission akin to saying that American cars are all the same. To me, the book seems to focus on the types of rugs that the author has in his store, as if it were one big advertisement. No, he doesn't write, "Shop at my store!", but the selections within the book follow the same theme of the antiqued designs. While undoubtedly some will gravitate toward those rugs and find this book useful, I do not and prefer that my rugs antique by themselves as I enjoy them in my home for years to come.

For anyone interested in Persian rugs, I would steer clear of this book. For others, you may find it a useful guide particularly with array of rug images, but I would look elsewhere for an introduction to Oriental rugs. I found Caroline Bosly's Rugs to Riches a vastly superior introduction despite its age. While Oriental Rugs from A to Z is a beautiful book, it's ultimately just a pretty face to me and not very educational.

Illustrations and photographs were breathtaking. Price comparisons were helpful, but very little content on rug parameters and significance with regard to final results and quality.

Beautiful. A clear and concise readable guidline. There were a lot of wonderful pictures and all the information was very clear and understandable. A very valuable source for anyone who is thinking of buying an Oriental Rug.

This book had beautiful colored pictures of many carpets. A very helpful book at a good price.