Contact PRIMITIVE RUG

 

 

55 York Street
Morningside, QLD, 4170
Australia

Antique handmade, long piled nomad rugs are rare and unique. Primitive Rug reveals the stories of the nomadic people who wandered the deserts and mountains of Central Asia and beyond, leaving behind these woven works of art. In our store you will find an exclusive selection of old, nomad made rugs. 

These primitive hand woven rugs are from the Amu Darya in the north of Afghanistan, Samarkand in Uzbekistan, the Afghan Pamirs, eastern Turkey, Iran, Spain, eastern Europe, and the mountainous regions of central Afghanistan.

Our Story

Primitive rug began with a private collection of hand woven long piled rugs and an interest in the people who wove these rugs. The collection is centred around long piled rugs from Central Asia, mainly Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and to a lesser extent rugs from Iran, Turkey and Europe. 

Information about long piled nomad woven rugs is scarcer than hen's teeth. Beginning with Russian expeditions to Uzbekistan in the early 2oth century, ethnographers like Valentina Moshkova began detailed studies. By the mid 20th century B. Karmysheva and others were adding to the research. Then in the late 1970's these long pile rugs were noticed by George O'bannon who began to publish his observations, beginning with his monograph in 1979 Kazakh and Uzbek Rugs from Afghanistan. O'bannon eventually contributed to and published an English version of Moshkova's Carpets of the People of Central Asia in 1996. Since then various individuals have contributed with niche books on diverse rug types, like Gabbeh rugs from Iran and the long piled rugs of Turkey, as well as the occasional blog post or story published online. 

In September 2010 I created a blog titled Primitive Rug in an attempt to begin correlating some of the information available about long piled rugs and putting this information together in one place. The original stories are compiled here in our Primitive Rug journal. The journal is published without funding and as such, articles are published whenever they can be fitted in alongside other projects.

We've been privileged to have Thierry Girard and Dr. Elmira Gyul, Fine Arts Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, contribute articles to the journal.  

From 2004 the collection of long piled rugs grew beyond a sensible number, now offered here in our Primitive Rug shop. The rugs are part of a private collection and the sale of these rugs helps to keep this website running.

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About Robert Cobcroft, founder of Primitive Rug.

Robert Cobcroft is known for his creative portrait photography and is an innovator in the market for Brisbane headshots . His life is involved with art and design, which eventually sparked an interest in these shaggy woven textiles. Also an ex-elite cyclist and publisher of the cycling blog, Velo Aficionado.

 

 

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