Rugs and carpets

Rugs and carpets, thick, heavy fabric, most often used as a floor covering. Carpet weaving with sheep's wool was first highly developed in the Near East. By A.D. 600 Persian carpets were internationally famous. Their vivid, long-lasting dyes came from natural materials, e.g., bark and roots. Persian designs influenced the 16th-and 17th-century carpets of India's Mogul courts and the beautiful Chinese carpets produced from the 14th to 17th centuries. Carpet weaving spread in the West, particularly in the 17th century, via France, Belgium, and England. Oriental carpets were woven on looms, still the basic technique of carpet making. But as of 1841, power-driven looms began to mechanize the industry. Classifications of carpets include Oriental, chenille, velvet, hooked, European handwoven, straw, and rag.