A hand-knotted rug is made one knot at a time and can last for generations. A machine-made rug is produced quickly on a loom. They can look similar in a photo, so here is what to check.
Look at the back. On a hand-knotted rug the pattern appears on the back almost as clearly as on the front, and the knots are slightly irregular. On a machine-made rug the back looks perfectly even and often has a mesh or glued backing.
Small irregularities. Hand-knotted rugs often have slight differences in line, shape and colour. These are signs of handwork, not mistakes.
The fringe. On a hand-knotted rug the fringe is the end of the warp threads, so it is part of the rug. On many machine-made rugs the fringe is sewn on.
Colour variations. Natural dyeing can produce gentle changes of shade within one colour, known as abrash. Machine-made rugs usually have perfectly even colour.
All the rugs in our shop are handwoven. We normally include a photo of the back in each rug’s own page. If you cannot find it, contact us and we will send it to you or add it to the site.