I have decided to write about the Pakistan Bokhara ( boo-car-ah) rug today since we have a few in our shop. When I went around on my little Victoria rug gallery tour I got to feel a new deep red Bokhara rug. I do not get to see many new rugs at Luv-A-Rug, I get to see the rugs when they re not at their best.The history of the Pakistan Bokhara rug is short because Pakistan became a country in 1947 and rug making started around the same time. That means there are no antique Pakistan rugs as of yet, we still have to wait another 40+ years. The Bokhara rug was named after a trading town from the days of the Silk Route. They are made with a combination a Pakistan and New Zealand wool and woven on a cotton foundation. A 4x6 foot rug may take a weaver 5 months to make. The repetitive design was inspired by the Turkoman Gul design. The design used by Pakistan is commonly referred to as elephant foot motif.
As beautiful as the Bokhara rugs are there are some distinct characteristics. When the rugs are woven there could be several different ones on each loom. When they are finished they are cut and the sides are wrapped. Over time, with walking and vacuuming, the side wrap can pull away from the rug. Luv-A-Rug does several of these repairs a month on Bokhara rugs. We suggest to our clients that they get the sides rewrapped, or Serged.
Side wrap pulling away from the rug.
The corner fraying by vacuuming.
A new serged edge.
The dyes can sometimes be unstable and bleed if improperly washed. Neither of these traits should turn you away from loving a Pakistan Bokhara rug. They are not traits of every rug and when properly taken care of are of little concern. Bokhara's come in a variety of wonderful colours including reds, rust,brown, many shades of blues, and greens.
The Bokhara rug will always be in my top five favorite rugs, mostly because they were one of the first rugs I could identify on my own when I started working at Luv-A-Rug.
Thank for reading, RugloverMary.
