Handmade carpets.

An authentic oriental rug is a handmade carpet that is either knotted with pile or woven without pile. Oriental-design rugs made by machine, made through hand-tufting or any method other than hand-knotting or hand-weaving are not considered authentic oriental rugs.
These rugs normally come from a broad geographical region extending from China and Vietnam in the east to Turkey, Maghreb countries, Cyprus and Iran in the west and the Caucasus in the north to India in the south. People from different cultures, countries, racial groups and religious faiths are involved in the production of oriental rugs.

Oriental rugs are organized by origin: Persian rugs, Anatolian rugs, Kurdish rugs, Caucasian rugs, Central Asian rugs, Turkmenistan rugs, Chinese rugs, Tibetan rugs and Indian rugs.

The hand-knotted pile carpet probably originated in southern Central Asia between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, although there is evidence of goats and sheep being sheared for wool and hair which was spun and woven as far back at 6000BC.

The earliest surviving pile carpet in the world is called the "Pazyryk Carpet", dating from the 5th-4th century BC. It was excavated by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1949 from a Pazyryk burial mound where it had been preserved in ice in the valley of Pazyryk. The origin of this carpet is attributed to either the Scythians or the Persian Achaemenids. This richly colored carpet is 200 x 183 cm (6'6" x 6'0") and framed by a border of griffins.
Oriental carpets began to appear in Europe after the Crusades in the 11th century. Until the mid-18th century they were mostly used on walls and tables. Except in royal or ecclesiastical settings they were considered too precious to cover the floor. Starting in the 13th century Oriental carpets begin to appear in paintings (notably from Italy, Flanders, England, France, and the Netherlands). Carpets of Indo-Persian design were introduced to Europe via the Dutch, British, and French East India Companies of the 17th and 18th century.

For the last 30 years the contemporary designs are often created by European artists and the carpets then knotted or hand tufted in Nepal and India.
The price and quality is determined by the carpet yarn weight. More yarn makes the carpet stronger and better in quality. It is also important to inspect the back side of the carpet to see the density of the knots. Handmade rugs are always more expensive because it takes a long time to make them. It is difficult to find two identical pieces, the edges of the carpet are usually not perfectly straight, edging a little uneven. However, a handmade carpet is an investment for the future as the price rises with the years.

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