Q&A: 12x15 Peshawar and a Big Investment

Question:

Per your website, I am enclosing photos of a recently purchased (on approval) rug.  It is 12’2” by 15’4” including fringe.  It is a Peshawar Usahka rug. My wife and I had been considering a sisal look alike and just stopped in at an antique rug dealer in NY…  and found this piece.  The sisal look alike was going to cost 1700 and this was ….well… a bit more.  Cost was $5500.  It shows no discernable wear.   After buying the rug…  which was something of an expensive impulse purchase, I thought that I had better look into what I had just spent $5500 on. 

Please give me your opinion as to the value to this rug.

-anonymous

 

 

Hello,

The photograph of the rug in place looks like it could be from a high profile magazine.  Really nice.  Excellent detail in the Standard Rug Rag Identification photographs, and great overall looking rug.  I'm glad you opted for this piece over a Sisal.  My feeling is that Sisal rugs, while a good option, are somewhat cliche. 

The investment in this rug may seem very high, but we'll get into the value in the bit.  This is a Peshawar type rug as you mentioned.  Could be Afghan/pakistan, although more likely pakistani made by Afghan weavers.  It is entirely hand knotted.  As with many rugs, but particularly Peshawar types, one of the more important elements is the material input, or the quality of wool.  The design execution appears very good in this piece.

Of course the best way to determine value would be to see and feel the rug in person.  The size noted is pretty large.  From my experience, the noted investment of $5500 is very reasonable for a retail price given the size, design, colors, knot count, genre, and assumption of a good grade wool.  I think you did fine.  Some dealers would say this is a veggie/natural dye, whether or not it is would require testing, but it appears as though the ivory is close to natural tone.  The yarn shows signs of being hand spun as there is variation in both the gauge and yarn ply.

- Rug Rag

Follow Up Question

No buyers remorse here – just shocked that we made the jump. I have attached pics of the rug down on the living room floor – and you can see how terrific it looks – note this is a beach house and has a lot of light…which fades things – so that was another consideration – merchant did indicate that this was roof faded (which means it is supposedly already faded)…I just hope it will not fade any more. 

Follow Up Answer

As for the subject of fading, that's certainly a valid concern.  It's not uncommon, especially some for peshawar rugs, to lighten over the years if under extreme, steady sunlight.  Outside of dyes and natural tendency to fade over extended time, my thought is some of this may have to do with the way in which the carpet is washed after finishing, although I'm not entirely sure.  Generally they tend to have subtle tones to begin with. There's not much one can do for a sun faded rug other than use typical precautionary measures such as rotating the rug regularly (every month if light is very strong, every few months to six if it's not too bad), and perhaps UV protected windows may help as well.  The biggest problem from a value standpoint is uneven sunfade.  If this house is a second home, I would just roll up the rug when you're not there.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to comment below.

- Rug Rag

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