The Story of Carpets: A Buyer's Guide
These two books give the reader tools for understanding, identifying, and selecting Oriental carpets, which have long been staples of elegant home decor. Sakhai, who comes from an Iranian family of experts, presents inside information about the history, traditions, meanings, weaving techniques, and characteristics of carpets from the many tribes of Persia. Readers will gain appreciation for rugs that are part of the everyday life of these people as they learn how to determine quality and authenticity as well as how to care for these treasures. Gorgeous full-color illustrations are accompanied by individual histories and thumbnail maps of the regions of their origins. Stone (Oriental Rug Repair, 1981. o.p.) attempts to define the linguistically confusing terminology of oriental carpets and rugs. In alphabetically arranged entries that are usually brief, with many cross references, he covers rug characteristics, techniques, design motifs, structures, and materials, as well as persons and places. The geographic scope encompasses not only the Middle East but Northern Africa, Central Asia, the Far East, and even southern Europe and North America, presumably because such carpets share "Oriental" designs. Clear black-and-white drawings and small maps punctuate the entries, with 48 rugs shown in color. This long-awaited reference is accessible to the lay reader yet backed by disciplined research. Both books are helpful guides, with Sakhai's reverential text eliciting the exoticism and Stone's lexicon the facts. Together they make an excellent "starter kit" on the topic for large or small academic and public libraries. Indispensable for consumers, dealers, or museums.?Therese Duzinkiewicz Baker, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling GreenCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.