Hello to All,

Well, I've inherited and purchased a number of rugs in my travels with no earthly idea what I was buying or what I've been given -- just that I think they are beautiful carpets. Now I'm trying to figure out exactly what I have in order to properly insure them. After stumbling across this forum, it seems smarter to turn to the subject matter experts before paying for a formal appraisal. I'm attaching some images of the first of approximately 10 rugs. It is 100% silk and my wife's favorite -- which is why it goes first. ;). Please accept my sincerest thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

Very Respectfully,
Charlie

Interesting. The file size for each image matches the correct file but the name is the same for all and the same image appears for all. :S

The images that I opened were not all the same. However, it is always good to have one of the whole rug, one close up, one of the back with some sort of scale and one of any of the damage areas. While it is a pretty rug, I believe it is one that is pretending to be a Silk Turkish and I have my reservations about it. It is quite difficult to tell this from the images you have posted. I don't know if this piece has been washed or been subjected to some sort of spillage, as there is clear, bad colour run from the blue in the signature image. You don't really expect that from a good Hereke Silk. It could be a Chinese copy. But I am not sure if it is real silk. You should be able to tell that by burning a little bit of the fringe and see if there is a powdery residue or not. I am sorry this is probably not of a lot of help but it is difficult FOR ME to be more precise by looking at what you have posted and information you have given.

Well that is very good then that it is real silk. The colour shift is what you get with silk and most carpets but it is a lot more enhanced with silk rugs. It was your last photo of the back of the signature that I looked at again on my computer as opposed to my phone and looking at it again it might not be colour run but strands of blue silk on the back. Maybe you can look and see if there is any colour run there. I am quite intrigued that you bought this piece in Zahedan. When did you buy it? Zahedan is not the sort of place most Iranians go to let alone foreigners, unless you work for the secret service (a joke).

I personally do not see that as a Persian and if anything I would see it as Turkish but not too sure of that. If you had bought it about 30 years ago, which I doubt you have then I would be more certain that it is Turkish. The problem is non Persian silk in Zahedan is not the sort of thing you find unless it is smuggles in and most smuggling is done through Pakistan in that area and it is not carpet but narcotics.

I purchased the rug in Spring of 2007 -- the trip was work related and there was considerable chatter everywhere I went regarding my presence. ;) Thank you for noticing the silk strands -- thankfully, on closer inspection, there is no color run. It was a bit disconcerting that I thought there was color bleeding and I just couldn't see it -- made the assumption that a practiced eye is probably much better at noticing these things and I didn't even think about the viewing screen.

Anyway, you'll find new images attached based on your recommended views and I hope this helps a bit. Does anyone have a clue what the writing on the ends means? As usual, I'm utterly clueless. :) My sincerest thanks for everyone's help thus far and I look forward to learning more. :)

Very Respectfully,
Charlie

Wow, so how would a Turkish rug (or even a knock-off) end up in Zahedan? Here's a few images my wife took of another rug -- it's 100% wool and once the remodeling is complete she plans on putting it in the formal living room. It's quite large so she was not able to take the full spectrum of photos but used her judgement as to what might be somewhat helpful.

On an separate note, how long has it taken to accrue the incredible amount of knowledge regarding rugs? Verifying the know count number, types of colors, materials, origin, etc. is akin to magic. Mad props! :)

First one did look like a chinese hereke. tricky though, maybe a turkish rug thats been washed or something. The most recent rug is perhaps a Nain persian rug