We have almost completed unpacking the rugs that Jeff Arcari bought on his buying trip to Pakistan, India, and Turkey. The most recent batch that we unpacked had some very unusual and distinct rugs. Each of these rugs uses variations in texture as in its design. Part of the surface is pile, while the remainder is soumak weave.

The soumak weaving technique consists of wrapping colored yarns over the warps of the carpet. Since the soumak yarn is continuous rather than knotted and cut, it does not have “fuzz” that pile rugs have.

In the rug below, the texture of the background soumak makes the cloak appear to float on the surface. J25468, 4’ 2" x 6’ 0"

In the rug below, the colors are low contrast. The design uses difference in texture as much as the differences in color. The design is inspired by Moroccan tribal rugs. J25482, 9’ 2" x 12’ 0"

In this last example, the contrast is in both texture and color. The black pile strikingly contrasts with the silver metalic soumak threads. J25473, 6’ 4" x 9’ 7" and other sizes