The Big Lebowski

Jeffery Lebowski (played by Jeff Bridges), or "The Dude" as he prefers, is an unemployed bachelor who bowls as a hobby. Mistaken as a very wealthy man who shares his same name (played by David Huddleston), The Dude is caught up in a complex ransom/extortion plot. The first confrontation takes place in The Dude's apartment, where he is threatened by a pair of intruders who render his most prized possession, a Persian Rug, as little more than a urine soaked floor covering. It was difficult for us to determine the type of this rug, as no direct camera shots were shown. However, we believe the rug may have been a natural dye tabriz.

Urinating on the rug

The Dude then decided to confront the wealthy Lebowski, the man for whom the intruders intended to intimidate. After explaining to the wealthy Lebowski the situation of mistaken identity, The Dude asserted responsibility of replacing his rug was not his. The wealthy Lebowski dismissed the idea of replacing the urine soaked Persian Rug....

But The Dude was ahead of multi-millionaire, as he ended up convincing Lebowski's Butler, Brandt (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), that he had been granted permission to choose any Persian Rug in the house. The Dude ended up choosing a rug which is known as an ardekan, sometimes also referred to as a "kashan" due to similarities in design but a lower grade.

As seen below, possibly just a bad editing cut, the rug as shown being carried from Lebowski's mansion is somewhat different than the rug as it appears brought back into The Dude's home. Notice the width of this barrell rolled rug is about 4 ft., which would make actual width 8, however the rug shown one scene later appears to be much smaller.

Getting a rug back

Yep, it sure does look like a classic Persian "Kashan" design, but it is a coarser quality rug, known as an "Ardekan." These rugs are very affordable, and strikingly similar to rugs several times their value. As seen below, Ardekans are highly characterized by their red fields, blue borders, stylized flowers (known as palmettes) and medallions.

Ardekan Rug

Nice looking carpet, we figured the size is probably in the vicinity of 5'x8' or so.

Ardekan Rug closeup

As a owner of a brand new oriental rug, The Dude decides to break it in a little. Pictured below is The Dude active on his new replacement rug.

Dancing on the rug

And of course more meditating...

Laying on the rug

Nice close up of the pile of the rug. Yep, that's a walkman you see there, even back in 1998...

Walkman Closeup

And of course, we all get carried away with the age old tales of the flying carpet. Horrible graphics, yes... Maybe that's okay for the dream sequence this was...

Magic Carpet

Back at the Lebowski mansion, Walter (played by John Goodman), one of the Dude's war crazed friends decides to test out the truth behind Lebowski's need for a wheelchair. The rug on which they're standing upon appeared to be a very nice Persian rug.

Testing out the rug