| Area Rugs |
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| Embossed |
| A process of carving around a design or symbol to enhance the look of the rug. |
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| Field |
| Central part of a rug design generally surrounded by a border. |
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| Flat Weave |
| Weaving in which no knots are used. The weft strands are simply passed through the warp strands. Dhurries are flat woven rugs that originated in India and are usually made of cotton or wool. Kilims are generally finer, tapestry-like flat weaves. |
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| Ground |
| Background color which sets off the principle design motif of the rug, hand tactile qualities of the materials including softness, stiffness, rough, scratchy etc. |
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| Hand |
| Tactile qualities of a rug including softness, stiffness, rough scratch, etc. |
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| Hand-woven |
| Those rugs woven either on the hand, or hand and foot power-loom. To determine if the rug is hand-woven, look at the back of the rug near the fringe, If the ridges run parallel, the rug is hand- woven. |
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| Jute |
| You are probably familiar with the brown woven cloth used for burlap sacks. Burlap is woven jute cloth. Most jute is grown and harvested in the moist heat of Bangladesh, India and China. |
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| Knot |
| The basic structural unit of the pile rug, knots vary according to local and tribal weaving traditions, with the two main types being symmetrical (Turkish) and asymmetrical (Persian) varieties. |
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| Knot Count |
| The number of knots in a square inch of a rug. The number of knots per square inch rates the knot quality. |
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| Needlepoint |
| A rug-making technique made with wool yarns worked on canvas using the same method as a needlepoint pillow. |
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| Patina |
| The surface of a rug usually mellows with age or use. |
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| Power loom |
| A loom operated by mechanical or electronic power. |
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| Savonnerie |
| Made in France, this is a hand-knotted pastel rug with a floral medallion set on an open field with broken borders. |
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| Shading |
| A change in the appearance of an area rug due to localized distortions of the fibers, tufts or loops. Shading is not a change in color or hue, but a different reflection. |
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