Guide · For the trade
Southwestern rugs, tribal rugs and ikat: three families and how to specify each
Southwestern rugs are rugs in the design language of the Navajo weaving tradition and the Mexican serape: stepped diamonds, serrated zigzags, bands and crosses in undyed grey, brown, ivory and black with red, usually a wool flatweave or a flat Wilton. Tribal rugs are the nomadic weavings of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Persia, Anatolia and the Atlas: bold geometric guls, latch hooks and stylized animals in hand-knotted wool at 30 to 80 knots per square inch, or a wool kilim. Ikat rugs carry the blurred-edge motifs of resist-dyed Uzbek silk, now woven as hand-knotted, hand-tufted or machine-woven reproductions. Clients file all three together; the spec sheet separates them by construction and the construction decides which room each can take.
This guide is for the designer specifying a ranch house, a mountain house, a desert modern interior or a client who has asked for "something tribal". It covers the three families, the legal distinction when the word Navajo is used, how each is made now, neutral and modern versions, fiber by room and sizes. Moroccan and kilim pieces have their own Moroccan rug guide and kilim rugs guide.
The three families on one sheet
| Family | Origin and motifs | Traditional construction | Palette | How it is made now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwestern | Navajo regional styles (Two Grey Hills, Ganado, Teec Nos Pos, Chief's blanket, Storm pattern) and Mexican serape stripes; stepped diamonds, zigzags, crosses, bands | Weft-faced wool tapestry weave on an upright loom, no pile | Undyed grey, brown, cream, black; Ganado red; serape in turquoise, rust and gold | Hand-woven wool flatweave in India and Mexico; wool or polypropylene Wilton; indoor outdoor flatweave |
| Tribal | Turkmen guls, Caucasian Kazak and Shirvan medallions, Baluch, Qashqai, Afghan and Berber; latch hooks, stylized animals, combs, stars | Hand-knotted wool pile on wool warps, 30 to 80 knots; wool kilims | Madder red, indigo, ivory, undyed brown, apricot | Hand-knotted in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Turkey; vintage pieces; Wilton reproductions |
| Ikat | Uzbek Bukhara and Fergana resist-dyed silk and cotton; feathered, blurred-edge lozenges, zigzags and pomegranates | Not a rug tradition originally: the fabric pattern is translated to a weave | Saturated: magenta, saffron, indigo, emerald; now also charcoal and ivory | Hand-knotted or hand-tufted wool and viscose; machine-woven polypropylene and polyester |
Navajo, Navajo-inspired and southwestern: the words on the spec
A Navajo rug is woven by a Navajo (Diné) weaver and is a one-of-a-kind textile that trades through galleries and auction, often above the price of a hand-knotted room-size rug. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 makes it illegal to market a product as Native American made when it is not, so a reproduction is a "Navajo-inspired" or "southwestern" rug, never a "Navajo rug", on the spec, the invoice and the client's insurance schedule. Most of what the trade specifies is Navajo-inspired: wool flatweaves hand-woven in India at 3/16 to 1/4 inch, Wilton versions at 1/4 to 3/8 inch and polypropylene flatweaves for a porch. An authentic Navajo textile is specified as art, wall-hung or on a low-traffic floor over a felt pad, through a dealer who documents the weaver.
How each family is made now and what it means for the room
A wool flatweave southwestern rug is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, reversible and light, which puts it under a dining table, in a hall and on a stair with a dense 1/4 inch pad; it curls if the pad is skipped and its tapestry weave shows a sofa leg's dent. A hand-knotted tribal rug at 30 to 80 knots has a pile of 1/4 to 1/2 inch and the durability of any knotted piece; it holds a living room or a study for decades on a felt-and-rubber pad. A Wilton version of either reproduces the pattern in a 12-foot broadloom that cuts to any size and runs up a stair as a stair runner with a border. Ikat is the odd family: the design is a fabric, so it is reproduced in whatever construction the mill chooses, most often hand-tufted wool with a viscose highlight for the sheen of the original silk and that viscose keeps the ikat out of a kitchen or an entry.
Neutral southwestern rugs and modern tribal rugs
The current request is the pattern without the color: a Two Grey Hills palette of undyed grey, cream, brown and black in a stepped diamond, or a Chief's blanket band in charcoal and ivory, under a leather sofa in a desert-modern or mountain house. It is the easiest version to specify, because undyed wool does not fade and the palette sits under any upholstery. Modern tribal rugs do the same with a Caucasian or Turkmen motif enlarged to a 24 to 36 inch scale on an open field, often with an abrashed finish. For a brighter scheme, a serape stripe in turquoise and rust carries a bunk room or a porch and an ikat in indigo and ivory carries a bedroom. The geometric filter holds most of the catalog's tribal and southwestern patterns, about 870 styles across Prestige Mills, Couristan and Kane Carpet; the beige and tan and grey filters narrow it to the neutral versions.
Fiber by room
Wool for every indoor southwestern or tribal rug that will see traffic: it takes the stepped pattern cleanly, hides soil and is the fiber the originals were woven in. Wool and viscose for an ikat in a bedroom, where the sheen reads and the traffic does not. Polypropylene flatweave for a porch, a mudroom or a bunk room, from the outdoor collection. For a stair, wool only, with a dense pad and the stepped motif run up the flight rather than across it.
Sizes and runners
Southwestern and tribal flatweaves were woven for tents and small rooms, so the authentic sizes run small: 4x6, 5x8, 6x9. For a living room the spec is an 8x10 or 9x12 with the front legs of the seating on the rug and 18 inches of floor at the walls, which means a reproduction rather than a vintage piece; custom sizes come from a Wilton or flatweave broadloom cut and bound in 3 to 5 weeks, or a hand-woven custom program in 8 to 16 weeks. Runners at 27, 32 and 36 inches are the natural format for serape and band patterns and a southwestern runner is one of the most specified pieces in a ranch-house hall. The custom size rugs guide covers the mechanics.
Questions designers ask
What is a southwestern rug?
A rug in the design language of Navajo weaving and the Mexican serape: stepped diamonds, zigzags, bands and crosses in undyed neutrals or red, turquoise and rust, traditionally a wool flatweave. Most specified today are Navajo-inspired reproductions woven in India or on a Wilton loom.
What is the difference between tribal rugs and southwestern rugs?
Geography and construction. Tribal rugs are the nomadic weavings of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Persia, Anatolia and North Africa, usually hand-knotted wool with a pile. Southwestern rugs are the Navajo and Mexican tradition of the American Southwest, usually a flatweave with no pile. Both are geometric wool, which is why clients group them.
What is an ikat rug?
A rug carrying the blurred-edge pattern of ikat textiles, in which the yarn is tie-dyed before weaving so the motif edges feather. Ikat is a fabric tradition from Uzbekistan and Indonesia; as a rug it is a reproduction in hand-knotted, hand-tufted or machine-woven construction and the viscose used for the silk look keeps it out of high-traffic rooms.
Is a Navajo rug the same as a southwestern rug?
No. A Navajo rug is woven by a Navajo weaver and sold as a work of art under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act; a southwestern rug is a reproduction in the same design language, specified and invoiced as Navajo-inspired or southwestern.
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