Victor Victoria: The Story of Taste and Influence That Shaped The Popularity of Oriental Rugs in Europe & America

Handmade rugs have always added color and texture to our homes. But if one must establish an era, when oriental rugs in general and Persian rugs in particular, achieved an ever present status as part of home decor in many western capitals, one must start by their flourishing popularity during Victorian era in England.

Queen Victoria’s reign(1836-1901)touched all aspects of English life and beyond. The experience was of course part and parcel of the British colonial expansion with its notable example being that of India and with that came many cultural artifacts, including textiles that were imported from the East, from India and Persia.

Some would call the Victorian era’s decorative taste as one of excess with its filling up every nook and cranny in the house with an objet d’art! The concept of “layering”(note queen’s dress in above photo)was also part of the Victorian decorative taste. In terms of home decor it meant that you would place rug upon rug and dress up the chair and sofa in a similar fashion, covering them with throws and textiles from the East.

Captured In Material and Spirit

Inevitably Queen Victoria’s reign over Indian sub-continent meant a certain”ownership”of all things oriental. That included both an imaginary East as well as a tangible one. And in fact one always legitimized the other.

British“discovery”of the East was pre-staged by the development of orientalist attitudes in 19th century with emphasis placed on such studies as philology and anthropology as well as the creation of various Royal Geographical societies that aided such studies in Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium and England. The purpose was to explore the East as a project, to develop new economic resources to sell products, and to exploit natural resources such as spices, gold, silver etc., which would create opportunities for colonial expansion in to Asia, Africa and beyond.

The effects of developing an intellectual framework(read justification)for colonial expansion can be found in 19th century visual and literary artistic movements.

“Rudolf Swoboda (1859–1914) was a 19th-century Austrian Orientalist Painter. In 1886, Queen Victoria commissioned him to paint several of a group of Indian artisans who had been brought to Windsor Castle as part of the Golden Jubilee preparations. The Queen liked the resulting paintings so much that she paid his way to India to paint more of her Indian subjects.”

The Carpet Menders by Rudolf Swoboda(circa 1888).

In Arts & Letters

European paintings of the 19th century with noteworthy examples in the works of say, Jean-Léon Jérôme (1824 – 1904) or earlier by romantic painter Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix(1798 – 1863), helped visualize concurred lands and culture for people “at home.” Aided by the advent of photography, these paintings often displayed a sense of realism that would exaggerate “oriental” surroundings, faces and communities in seemingly minute detail.

In addition, a consequence of expanding empire in to the Indian subcontinent and its effect on neighboring countries such as Persia, was the discovery of Persian literature by such figures as Edward FitzGerald(1809-1883) and British orientalist, Reynold Nicholson(1868-1945). 

What became known as the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyam(1048-1131), dubbed “the Astronomer-poet of Persia.” 

One Moment in Annihilation’s Waste,
One Moment, of the Well of Life to taste –
The Stars are setting and the Caravan
Starts for the Dawn of Nothing –

Oh, make haste!

The Romantic Era 

Perhaps the popularity of such romantic luminaries as William Blake, Samuel Coleridge and Percy Shelly, had paved the way for Omar khayyam, as both an outsider poet as well as an “eastern wise man”, representing aspects of similar romantic notions that permeated the late 18th and early 19th century British society. FitzGerald’s translation which was more literary than literal was in fact more a work of 19th century romantic imagination than a true translation of Khayyam’s own poetic sensibilities. It is worth mentioning that such important literary figures as  Rudyard Kipling and George Orwell(Eric Arthur Blair) were both born in colonial India, a fact that can not be ignored when discussing the East and western fascination with its culture.

Arts and Crafts Movement and its Eastern Origins

The Arts and Crafts movement led by artist and writer William Morris(1834-1896)was yet another manifestation of 19th century British fascination with the discovery of the East.  

William Morris who was influenced by anarchism in the 1880s and had become a committed revolutionary socialist activist, intended to revive traditional crafts, advocating his concept of “truth to materials”and dedicating his life to the preservation of traditional arts and crafts. A tradition that he feared was to be wiped out by industrial revolution. 

Morris’s use of simpler forms(in comparison to traditional Persian patterns)in carpets , wall paper and architectural design was aided by his partnership with artists such as Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)and Dante Gabriel Rossetti(1828-1882). Their ideas, though expressed a somewhat medieval, romantic and folk style of decoration, were graphic in nature, an achievement that could not have been realized without direct influence from design elements in Persian and oriental rugs. Such concepts as palmettes, stems and vines, formed the basics of oriental carpet motifs. In fact many 19th century Sultanabad carpets from north central Persia and Oushak carpets from Turkey display large and bold patterns that closely resemble the later William Morris and Voisey carpets.

In addition to Morris a key figure of the Arts and Crafts movement was Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857 – 1941), an English architect and furniture and textile designer. Voysey’s early work as a designer of wallpapers and fabrics and furnishings made important contribution to the Modern Style(British Art Nouveau style)and was recognized by the seminal The Studio magazine. He is renowned as the architect of several country houses.

Arts and Crafts carpets, hand knotted in England and Ireland, were coarse and lacked the intricate patterns or the tight weaving structure of their Persian counterparts, a fact that was dictated by much higher cost of production as well as lack of skilled weavers. So the elimination of details and the enlargement of patterns were as much a consequence of economic and skill limitations as they were the result of preference in taste and design.

Responding to Demands

The importation of Persian rugs in mass quantities, in a wide array of design and construction, “nomadic” as well as workshop produced, began in earnest in late 19th and early 20th century England. 

The development of London based companies such as Oriental Carpet Manufacturers(OCM)in 1907 led to direct involvement of British firms-and consequently British taste-in the development of certain types of Persian rugs, as well as their expedited importation in to England.

Gilded Age and Oriental Rugs

It did not take long for the popularity of oriental rugs in England to ignite the fire of interest and appreciation in the U.S., where they soon became a symbol of affluence, discerning taste and worldly manners. In 1909 Nearco Castelli & Brothers and the Eastern Rug and Trading Company, both with headquarters in New York, began to invest in the Kermān(a city in southeast Iran)carpet industry.  

Direct importation of rugs from Persia and India soon followed. The legendary affluence generated during the gilded age, specially in New England, meant that mansions in New York and Boston, adorned by early American furniture and European objet d’art accumulated from Europe, needed the grandiosity of Persian rugs as a display ground to capture the essence of wealth and power.

Rugs and Carpets in Cornelius Vanderbilt Mansion

Cornelius Vanderbilt himself purchased the above piece in the latter half of the nineteenth century, when demand for oriental and Persian rugs amongst the affluent and notable was at its highest. Other influential American businessmen, such as J. P. Morgan, William, A. Clark and John D. Rockefeller, also acquired exemplary rugs from Persia, Turkey and India.

Economics, Culture & Style

After the economic depression ended in the U.S., especially with World War II ending in Europe and the start of economic growth and the expansion of  suburbia in the U.S., hand made rugs originating in Iran, India and China found new demand in both Europe and the U.S. 

However this new demand was short lived and was contingent upon taste and fashion in new architectural styles and home furnishings that promised a “brighter” future with what was considered as cutting edge modernity.

 A Brighter Future

What became known as the Mid Century style, the 1950s rambler design in homes with futuristic concepts popping up everywhere from cars to household appliances, the “modern” era demanded a more minimalist aesthetics focusing less on pattern and more on simplicity. Thus the advent of wall to wall carpeting and the literal removal of oriental rugs from the aesthetic of every day life.

But by the late 1970s with a renewed interest in travel to distant lands and geographies and with the “hippy” style in full swing, came a higher demand for oriental rugs. In fact the interest in hand made oriental style rugs became part and parcel of a new movement of architectural preservation. From mission style furniture to prairie and arts and crafts and Victorian style homes, all helped revitalize the handmade rug industry.

Thus throughout late 70s, 80s and 90s handmade rugs-now mostly made in India, Pakistan and China thanks to Iranian revolution that brought about the collapse of Persian rug industry-made a huge come back and helped develop new markets for handmade rugs that were now available as well as affordable in more countries than ever before.

Durable and Sustainable 

The hand made rug industry responding to taste and fashion in the western world has remained incredibly flexible, bending and changing with new styles that have dominated women’s clothing as well as furniture design. While hand made rugs have become more of a commodity than a cultural by-product and are now far removed from Queen Victoria’s original intent and influence, their staying power, albeit for an smaller audience, is a testimony to their original purpose, to tell the story of life in small details, a reflection of our hopes and aspirations for the survival of human civilization.

The renewed focus on environmentalism, climate change and sustainable economics, have given hand made rugs-an essentially green product- a new opportunity to help pull millions out of poverty with less carbon foot print and less waste.