Anatolian Rugs

The name is a broad one: it covers rugs woven across the central plateau, outside the named production centers. These are village and nomadic weavings, with a wool pile on a cotton foundation, knotted with the symmetric Turkish knot, and designed from memory in the geometric vocabulary of the region.

The colors in ours have softened over the years into muted pink, dusty rose, taupe and beige, with the odd cream or navy piece, and the motifs still repeat clearly across the field: hooked lozenges, star medallions, ram’s horns and stylized flowers. The pile is low and even, worn down by decades of use.

Ours are mostly medium sizes and runners, with a few larger area rugs. Anatolian rugs bring texture and a handmade feel to entries, kitchens and hallways, and they pair well with the darker Turkish and Persian tribal groups in our collection.

Anatolian: the oldest weaving tradition in Turkey

Anatolia is the great heartland of Turkish weaving, and rugs described simply as Anatolian tend to come from the villages and tribal groups of the central plateau rather than from the commercial towns. They are among the most graphic carpets Turkey produces, with strong geometry and a directness that comes from weaving without a drawn pattern.

Prayer designs with a stepped niche, stacked medallions, latch hook borders and bands of small repeating motifs are all characteristic. The wool is hand-spun, and the low pile keeps every line of the drawing crisp.

What to look for

• Drawing: strong geometry; prayer niches, stepped medallions, latch-hook borders.
• Color: soft pinks, taupe and beige in ours, with darker accents in the drawing.
• Knot: symmetrical Turkish knot, giving a slightly more graphic surface.
• Sizes: mid sizes and runners in ours, with a few larger pieces; true room-size village rugs are scarce.

Small rooms, big character

These are statement rugs at small scale. An Anatolian village weaving is one of the best things you can put in a small room, an entryway or a study, because it delivers a great deal of character in very little floor. They also layer beautifully.

Village and tribal character

Expect irregularity: sides that are not quite parallel, motifs that change slightly as they repeat, and pronounced abrash. In Anatolian weaving these are the signature of an individual weaver working from memory, and they are much of what gives the tradition its character.

What buyers ask about Anatolian weaving

What is a prayer rug?

A rug with a directional niche design at one end, traditionally oriented during prayer. They are widely collected as decorative weavings and are used like any other rug.

Why are Anatolian rugs usually small?

Village and tribal looms were narrow and portable. Large formats were the province of commercial workshops such as Isparta, not of village weavers.

How do I tell Turkish from Persian?

Turkish weaving uses a symmetrical knot and tends to be more geometric and graphic. Persian work more often uses an asymmetrical knot suited to curved floral drawing.

Picking one from this shelf

Buy on character, because these are the pieces where the weaver shows most. No two on this shelf share a drawing.

Where Anatolian weaving sits in the wider Turkish picture: the ultimate guide to Turkish rugs.

What these rugs actually are, why the drawing is geometric and why nothing here is room-size: the Anatolian guide.

What is an Anatolian rug?

A hand-knotted village or tribal rug from the central plateau of Turkey, made outside the named production towns such as Isparta. Ours have a wool pile on a cotton foundation, geometric drawing and soft pinks, taupe and beige, and each is a single piece.