Sakhai, a London rug dealer from a family of carpet weavers, shares his expertise on history, identification, and value of oriental carpets in this reasonably priced book. He offers tips on judging materials, dyes, patterns, age, and condition when selecting a carpet to buy. In handy guidebook format he describes different types of carpets, accompanied by color and black-and-white photographs (color photographs not seen). The author discusses value in comparative terms only, so prospective buyers will need to study the market to determine fair prices. Caucasian Carpets & Covers is a scholarly work by the curators who assembled the 1994 exhibit "From Kuba to Kars" at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. Their book includes knotted pile rugs from the Caucasus in addition to the materials in that exhibit. The text is detailed and comprehensive, accompanied by maps and photographs, mostly in color. Much of the historical material is from Russian sources available only in the former Soviet Union. Unfortunately, full-page color-detail photographs have no captions, making it necessary for the user to search through the volume for the source photograph to identify the detail. Otherwise, the presentation is excellent; this is a major work in the field. Both books are highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.?Constance Ashmore Fairchild, formerly with Univ. of Illinois Lib., Urbana-Champaign
Date Published 11/1/1995
Ratings
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
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Comments: A Must For Collectors As said in the synopsis - this is a book on available rugs not ones gracing the walls of museums or showing up in the big auction houses for 30 000 bucks. As a rug dealer, I use his books as a bible (perhaps Quran would be more appropriate!) and they have never let me down. As I tell my customers... before you invest a 1000 dollars on a rug, invest 15 dollars to learn more about them. You will be amazed at how carpet dealers will drop their prices as soon as you show even a small amount of knowledge. Best series by far. Enjoy.
Rated By: Ron Pierce
From: Arlington, Virginia
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Comments: Great Help for Beginners in Oriental Rugs If you have recently been bitten by the Oriental Rug bug, here is a down to earth book for to help you through the complicated names of regions and styles. The author gives everything you need to know without overwhelming you with a subject and a trade hundreds of years old. Moreover, the pictures are a great visual aid for showing examples of rugs mentioned in a well written text. This book will make easier your understanding of the subject and get you off to a good start to an enjoyable pursuit.
Rated By: Ken Blair
From: Houston, Texas
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Comments: Plentiful information for novices I found this book a useful text for beginners. It provides organized information without being overly complex and boring. One benefit of the book is that occasionally when the author makes reference to an item explained in detail elsewhere in the text, a page number is given so the reader can jump to the detailed description if necessary. It's the 1980's version of hyperlinks. The color plates are beautiful, but lack descriptions of the sizes of the rugs. Also lacking is the pronunciation guide; A basic guide exists, but falls short by lacking pronunciations for all but one or two words. I was also hoping to read a discussion of the varrying lengths of rug fringes, which this book did not discuss. A final benefit of the book is the last chapter on the major and minor weaving groups. These sections provide a good source of reference when one needs to get quick, basic information about a particular group.
Rated By: A reader
From: Unavailable
Rating:
Comments: Consider this book a VERY basic introduction only If you are interested in buying a book to learn just the basics of Oriental Rugs in a short time span, this book is just fine. The content is good, and there are about 20 pages of glossy pictures showing different designs of rugs. If your intention is to buy a book which will help you really understand the nuances of Oriental rugs, you need to look elsewhere. I gave the book an average rating, because that's what it is - not a great reference, but also not a bad value for the money. Just a decent book conveying about what you'd expect from a 100 page introductory text.
Sakhai, a London rug dealer from a family of carpet weavers, shares his expertise on history, identification, and value of oriental 
