Our friends at Sotheby’s London are hosting an auction of ‘Rugs and Carpets’ on Tuesday, November 7. A couple of examples shown here are (L) a small medallion rug from West Anatolia (Turkey) that is expected to sell for up to $40,000. The Northeast Persian (R) is expected to bring up to $68,000.
Each one of these beautiful rugs is truly a unique work of art that took many months, or in some cases years, to complete. Do you know how to tell the quality of a hand woven carpet or rug? Examine the back of the rug and count the number of knots per square inch. The higher the number, typically the higher the quality of the rug. For Turkish rugs, 150 knots per inch is considered average. The highest quality rugs may have as many as 500 KPSI or more.