Antique Persian rug collecting and investing is an area which anyone can participate in. Antique Persian rugs can be bought for a rew hundred dollars or a few hundred thousands of dollars. However in the main collecting antique Persian rugs is not an easy or inexpensive investment hobby.
A prospective buyer could easily be ripped off for several thousand to several hundred thousands (and even millions) of dollars for a Persian carpet that may not be an antique. As you get no income from the rug unless you can lease it out, you have to rely on astute buying and on time and demand to increase the value of your antique Persian rug investments. Therefore its pretty important that the Persian rug that you buy is a genuine antique.
To help you identify genuine antique Persian rugs knowing where they were made and what type of rugs they are is a good starting point. For example if they were made in Pakistan, China, Romania or India then these rugs are more than likely not genuine. These countries did not begin making Persian carpets until after 1945 at the earliest.
Another factor about Persian rugs from these countries is that they are usually thicker and heavier than the traditional antique Persian rugs. Other types of rugs that have only appeared in the last 100 years include the Persian Qum rugs, White Kashans, a lighter colored rug, and the thick, pastel colored rugs called Taba-Tabriz Persian rugs.
Another handy tip that is helpful in identifing antique Persian rugs is to learn the range of colors that the rugs are available in. Genuine antique Persian rugs used vegetable dyes which reduced the range of colors available. On the other hand synthetic dyes offer far more options of colors but they were not available until the 1920’s. As an example of how this has changed Persian rugs the traditional Hamadan rugs were originally dyed with a camel colored background only. Modern Hamadan rugs now have an array of colored backgrounds.
Yet another handy tip to help you identify genuine antique Persian rug using their colors is by closely observing the tufts of the rug. If you see a gradual lightening of the colors from the base of the tuft to its top then you have a better than even chance that it is a genuine antique Persian rug. However if the fading of the colors is minimal along the length of the tufts then it is probable that synthetic dyes have been utilised to color and/or enhance the rug.
These tips are helpful in recognizing antique Persian rugs. However they are no guarantee that you will not buy a lemon. Unless you are confident in your own abilities at identifying an antique Persian rug it is still advisable that you employ the services of an expert.
Searching for your own antique Persian rug investments is an interesting and fun journey but if you want peace of mind and some assurance that you are buying wisely, you should always at least get an unbiased second opinion from a Persian rug expert. This may cost you a few dollars but it could well earn you possibly thousands of dollars in the future. Here is one expert who can assist in your antique Persian rug investment journey but there are plenty of others around so find one whom you can relate to and who has the necessary experience. Good luck and enjoy the antique Persian rug investments experience.