A Turkish rug, or Turkish carpet, is a rug knotted by hand in Turkey, and the ones most people meet today come from the west of Anatolia. Turkey wove rugs in dozens of districts, and a tour of all of them would fill a book. This guide sticks to what we can actually show you: vintage Isparta and Manisa rugs from the 1970s, plus a small group of Anatolian village rugs. It covers what they look like, why they are so pale, what sizes and prices to expect, and how to choose one.
What makes a rug Turkish
A Turkish rug is knotted by hand onto a foundation of lengthwise threads, the warp, and the cut knots form the pile you walk on. Anatolian weavers usually tied the symmetric knot, which the trade often calls the Turkish knot.[1] It is sturdy and suits bold, upright shapes.[2] Every Turkish rug we sell has wool pile on a cotton foundation.
Knots, drawing and color are the three clues that separate a Turkish rug from a Persian one. We compare them side by side in Persian and Turkish rugs: how to tell them apart.
Types of Turkish rugs
Turkish rugs are usually named after the town or district that wove them, and a few after the people who wove them or the way they were made. These are the types you will hear about most.
- Hereke. Very fine rugs, many of them silk, from a former imperial workshop near Istanbul.[3]
- Oushak. Large, soft medallions on a pale, open field, from the town of Usak in western Anatolia.[4]
- Yoruk. Rugs woven by nomadic groups, with long wool and bold geometric drawing.
- Kilim. Flat-woven rugs with no pile, made all over Anatolia.[5]
- Isparta. Workshop rugs from southwest Turkey, in soft, pale colors and room sizes.
- Manisa. Western Anatolian rugs, often with a centered medallion on an open field.
- Anatolian. A general name for village rugs from the Anatolian plateau, usually geometric.
Collectors also know town and village names such as Kayseri, Milas, Ladik and Yagcibedir, each with its own habits of drawing and color.[6]
The types we sell, and the ones we do not
Our Turkish rugs come under three of those names. Most are Isparta, a good share are Manisa, and a small group is sold simply as Anatolian.
We do not currently hold Hereke, Oushak, Kayseri, Milas, Ladik, Yagcibedir or Yoruk rugs, not a single one, and no kilims. Those are real and often beautiful weaving traditions. If one of them is what you came for, we would rather say so here than let you search the site for twenty minutes. What we sell is western Anatolian workshop weaving from the 1970s, because it is consistent and it is the best value in vintage rugs we have found.
Common Turkish rug patterns
Most Turkish rugs are built around one of a few layouts. The most common is a central medallion, a large shape in the middle, on an open field. Village rugs favor stepped and hooked medallions, stars and angular borders. Some rugs carry a prayer arch, the mihrab, at one end.[6] Workshop rugs such as Isparta often use curving floral medallions instead, closer to Persian drawing. Reading a rug explains what the common motifs are and where they come from.
Turkish prayer rugs
Prayer rugs, called seccade in Turkish, were among the most popular rugs woven in Anatolia.[6] You know one by the niche at one end, drawn after the mihrab of a mosque, and by its size, small enough for one person.[6] Villages and small towns each developed their own designs, so Turkish prayer rugs come in many local types.[6] Today many people simply use them as small rugs by a bed or a door.
Why our Turkish rugs are so pale
On the Isparta and Manisa rugs we sell, cream is the most common field, the main background of the rug, by a wide margin. After it come dusty rose, muted pink and ivory, with taupe and greige mostly in the pattern. Put that next to a Persian rug, where deep red leads, and you have the clearest difference between the two.
There are two causes. Weavers left much of the wool undyed, so the ground is often natural cream, and any color set against it reads softer. And these rugs have spent fifty years in daylight, which moves a clear red slowly toward rose and a strong green toward sage.[7]
That fading happened on its own, color by color, so the reds and blues are still different colors. Some pale rugs sold today were bleached and then dyed one color instead. Overdyed vs naturally faded rugs shows how to tell the two apart. A naturally faded Turkish rug is the easiest vintage rug to place in a room you have already decorated.
What sizes our Turkish rugs come in
The vintage Turkish rugs we sell are mostly living room and bedroom sizes, from about 5 by 8 up to 7 by 10. Runners are rare and small mats rarer still. The largest reach roughly 7 by 11, so none of them will cover a big room wall to wall.
That shapes the choice. For a sofa group in a medium room, or under a queen bed, a Turkish rug is often a good fit. If you need a true 9 by 12 or larger, look at Persian rugs instead. If you are torn between the two common living room sizes, 8x10 vs 9x12 will help you decide. Every one of our Turkish rugs also has a low pile, so doors clear it and a dining chair pushes back without catching.
How much a Turkish rug costs
Most of our Turkish rugs cost between $300 and $600, and even the largest stay under $900. There is no costly palace piece among them, because these districts were not weaving palace pieces in the 1970s.
For a hand-knotted wool rug that has already given fifty years of service, that is very good value. A new hand-knotted rug of the same size usually costs more, and it has none of the softened color. Shopping in Turkey itself? Our guide to buying a rug in Turkey covers bazaars, haggling and getting a rug home.
Vintage and antique Turkish rugs
Every Turkish rug we sell is vintage: woven in the 1970s, so about fifty years old. In the trade, antique usually means a hundred years or more, and our post on antique vs vintage rugs explains how those labels are used.
Antique Turkish carpets have a long history in the West. They have been imported into Europe since at least the middle of the fifteenth century.[8] Some designs are still named after the painters who showed them, such as the Lotto carpet, after an altarpiece by Lorenzo Lotto.[9] Our post on oriental carpets in Renaissance paintings tells that story. An antique Turkish rug is a collector’s purchase, and it is worth having a specialist judge its age, its dyes and its repairs before you buy.
Are Turkish rugs good quality, and which are the best?
A hand-knotted Turkish rug in good condition is a sound rug for daily use. Quality comes down to the wool, how evenly the rug was knotted and how it has been looked after, more than the country on the label. Isparta and Manisa rugs are workshop pieces with an even weave, which is why they wear so steadily. Our post are Turkish rugs handmade explains what a “made in Turkey” label does and does not tell you.
With a vintage rug, condition matters as much as the weaving. Look for pile that is low but even, with no bare patches where the knots show through. The ends and sides should be secure. Every rug we sell is washed and restored before it is listed, and each listing shows the rug from several angles so you can judge it yourself.
Which Turkish rugs are the best depends on what you want from one. The finest knotting is in Hereke silk, and collectors prize antique Oushaks and old village rugs. For a rug you will walk on every day, a vintage workshop rug in sound condition gives you the most for your money, and Isparta and Manisa rugs fit that well.
Isparta, Manisa or Anatolian
If you are choosing between the Turkish rugs we sell, Isparta and Manisa are close relatives, and most people should not agonize. Isparta is the workhorse: evenly woven, quiet and made in almost any normal room size. Manisa is the more consistent of the two and sits in a narrower band of sizes, almost all between 5 by 8 and 6 by 10. The Anatolian rugs are narrower village rugs, around 4 by 7, with stepped medallions and hooked shapes. If you like the bold geometry of a kilim but want pile underfoot, start there.
Turkish or Persian: which suits your room?
Choose a Turkish rug if the room is already decorated and you want the rug to settle in rather than lead. Its pale field works with cool grays, white walls and light wood. It suits a living room or bedroom of ordinary size, and it keeps the budget modest.
Choose a Persian rug if you want warmth and color, or if you need a runner, a small mat or a rug larger than about 7 by 11. The guide to Persian rugs covers that side.
One practical note: a cream field shows dirt sooner than a red one. In an entry or under a dining table, vacuum often and blot spills right away. Our rug care page has the details.
If the room is still the open question, start with size. Everything described here is in the Turkish collection.
Sources
- Carpets from the Islamic World, 1600-1800. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003.
- The Ushak Carpet. Victoria and Albert Museum.
- Hereke Carpet and Silk Fabric Weaving Factory. Presidency of National Palaces, Turkey.
- Star Ushak Carpet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Shirvan Kilim. Art Institute of Chicago, 2016.
- Prayer Rug with Niche Design. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Caring for textiles and costumes. Canadian Conservation Institute, 2024.
- Carpet fragments, Star Ushak pattern. Victoria and Albert Museum.
- ‘Lotto’ Carpet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
