Over the last few months, we have been receiving some unbelievably beautiful “Suzani” rugs.

What is a suzani? Good question! “Suzani” is the Persian word for embroidery. And in Uzbekistan, the art of embroidery  was taken to incredible levels. Uzbek women embroidered elaborate panels of vibrant silk thread into works of startling beauty. Older 19th century embroideries are highly collected with better pieces reaching prices of tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Close-up of an Uzbek embroidered "suzani"

But what does this have to do with rugs? Yes…. I was just getting to that. Well, some of today’s more creative rug producers began to look at  classic 19th century Uzbek suzanis and they said to themselves, “That is a beautiful design! Why not make a rug with that design?”. And that is exactly what they did. They made new rugs with beautiful Uzbek suzani designs. I almost imagine a 007 type rug producer pulling up to the bazar and requesting, “I’ll have one suzani, knotted, not stitched…. hold the olives.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there are some incredible rugs being made today! We are witnessing a rug renaissance. And these suzani rugs are a new breed of rug that I sometimes call “Hybrid Rugs”. Like the Ikat rugs that I previously wrote about, these rugs are inspired by traditional textile designs. There are a few other cool “hybrid” rugs around today that I will include in some latter blog posts including rugs that are modeled from traditional African textiles as well as Indonesian textiles.

It is cool to see the continuing evolution of rugs and rug designs. New rugs mining the rich field of traditional textiles and coming up with bold and beautiful pieces of woven wonder!

Here are some photos of some of our new Suzani rugs. Click on the image to take you to more info about the rug.

Afghan Suzani Rug closeup

Thanks for looking! Chris, Nomad Rugs

PS: Here is a little musical bonus. Lyrics to the “Suzani Song” to be sung to the music of “My Sharona”. Just sing along to the Knack, use these words… or make up yer own.

Oh you little pretty one
You pretty one
Makin you musta took a long time
Suzani

I’m a gonna make you mine
Suzani

My, my, my, mine
Suzani

Various Uzbek Ikats

You may have heard of Ikats? They are woven fabrics made using a complex tie-died method. This technique has been used primarily in Uzbekistan and Indonesia. Well, you may also know that the Uzbek Ikats (know there as “abr”) and Ikat designs have been inspiring western fashion designers who have been incorporating them into clothes. They have also been showing up as furniture upholstery.

And now, Uzbek Ikat is used as the design source to create unique and beautiful rugs! Very cool. Well, actually, there is some thought that Ikat designs have been influencing rug design (and vice-versa) in Central Asia for hundreds of years. But, it is new to see such faithful recreations of Ikats done in naturally dyed pile rugs made in Afghanitan. Very cool stuff! Personally, I love these new rugs! There are a few rug producers that I know who have been playing with this idea. I am lucky to have recently acquired some fabulous examples of this new cross pollination art!

Check out some of these beauties!! (the rugs I mean!) Click on a rug image for more info and additional images.

Stop by the shop sometime and check out the new Ikat rugs!

all my best,

Chris