Restoring Your Oriental Area Rug Treasure

Rug Glossary of Terms: M

  • Machine made
    Rugs woven on an electrically powered machines, now usually computer controlled.
  • Madder
    A Southwest Asian long lasting plant. A red root of this plant was (and in some places still is) an important source of red dye.
  • Manufactory
    Made by hand in a factory.
  • Mahi
    Persian for “fish,” this term refers to the Herati design which at times can resemble a fish eye design.
  • Make
    Determines where a rug is made.
  • Mamluk Carpet
    Large format rugs with complex geometric design and large medallions, woven in Cairo, Egypt from the 13th to the early 16th.
  • Maintenance
    Preservation of the rug by assuring graceful aging, such as wash, vacuuming, and rotation.
  • Malachite
    A green mineral used as a source of green dye.
  • Mashad
    One of the key rug weaving centers in Iran, where production began in the late 19th century. Mashad rugs are large, double-wafted, have a red background, and are woven on a cotton foundation.
  • Medallion
    The large centerpiece of the rug, a central point of the design. Most common shapes of medallions are diamonds, octagons, and hexagons.
  • Medallion-and-corner
    A particular design of the rug, wherein a medallion is quartered into the four corners of the rug, plus one full medallion in the center.
  • Memling Gul
    Diamond-shaped medallion surrounded with small hooks.
  • Mina Khani
    An allover design consisting of two or more flowers connected by a diamond lattice.
  • Minor Border
    One or a few narrower bands on each side of the main border are known as the minor border.
  • Mir boteh
    (Persian) A design of small rows of botehs throughout a field.
  • Moharramatt Ghakanadaani
    A pattern which consists of vertical stripes of equal width. Each stripe is different in color from the neighboring stripes and, typically has a different motif (although sometimes the motif may be repeated.) Often seem in Qum rugs.
  • Morocco
    Country in North Africa, capital – Rabat. Moroccan rugs are mostly woven for local use or sold to tourists, and have not yet reached the Western markets.
  • Motifs
    Any single form or a group of forms which together constitute an overall design of a rug.
  • Mughal Carpet
    Indian carpets produced in the 15th-18th centuries during the ruling of the Mughal dynasty. This period is considered the golden age of carpet production in India.
  • Multi-Level Loop Pile
    Yarn loops of different height which create a three-dimensional effect.

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