Oriental Rugs Glossary

<< Back to Glossary List

Abrash

The word "Abrash" comes from the Persian word for cloud "abr". It is the expression for unwanted color differences in rugs. Mostly they are caused by not having dyed enough wool for the rug so that further wool has to be dyed and creating exactly the same tone of color is nearly impossible, especially with vegetable dyes. Mostly this happens with tribal/nomadic carpets. When washed these differently died wools react differently and the initial hardly visible difference in color increases and becomes an abrash. Some religious people create such color differences in Oriental rugs on purpose in order to grant Allah the exclusive role to create perfect things. In newer productions abrashs are often made in order to give the rug a more authentic antique look.