Sarūk Carpet

Sarūk carpet, Sarūk also spelled Sarouk, originally, floor covering handwoven in the village of Sārūq, north of Arāk (Solṭānābād) in western Iran; later, floor covering commercially produced mainly in Arāk but also in the weaving villages nearby for the U.S. market. The early carpets were of very good quality, with short pile and a variety of designs. When medallion decorative schemes in curvilinear drawing were introduced in the early years of the 20th century, there were many signs of clumsiness resulting from unfamiliarity with the new designs.

Sarūk carpets produced on a large commercial scale are characterized by a longer pile and rose-coloured fields filled with disconnected floral sprays and plant forms. It is notorious that many of these carpets have been bleached chemically upon arrival in the United States and then the field colour painted in anew. Sarūk carpets are asymmetrically knotted on a cotton foundation. Mahal and Muskabad are trade names for village carpets of varying quality that come from the neighbourhood of Arāk.