Hi Rug Rag

I bought this rug in Istanbul last year. At the time I knew very little about rugs let alone Turkish rugs. My lack of experience has resulted in a purchase which is unlikely to be an authentic Turkish rug. I have been led to believe that this is the case? Could someone indicate the accuracy of this claim?

Thanks. Thats what I was told.

No it is not illegal to sell them. But it is not ethical. They should not have lied to you.

Tourist trap it is. The weaver was, as you say demonstrating her knotting skills to the gallery while the salesman gave his pitch. All rugs shown were possibly Turkish made, but when we went to the back room different rugs were brought to us. Surprisingly the salesman contacted me yesterday from Turkey and apologised for unintentionally being misleading. When asked why he didn't put the origin of his Rug he simply said "that we never do". Had he simply told me it was a reproduction made in China, I would have asked to see a different Rug, probably twice as expensive.

Thanks again

The rug you bought is of good quality -but the price is what most tourists pay - too much. You could have bought a rug in same quality in Australia for less.
In the last years most tourists brought rugs from India or from China that where sold as turkish. Since there is a law that enables buyers to return merchandise within a given time they don`t write the origin on the rug so buyers think the rug is turkish. You might be able to get a Discount from the seller if you contact him and tell him you want to give the rug back since you where not told about your right to return it. Most of the time cases here in Germany ended up with buyers getting back up to 50% of the paid price.