8527 MT Hwy. 35 * Bigfork, MT * Next to Culinary Design Studio

 Thursday and Friday * 1 – 5:30 pm

 With occasional exceptions - please call to check hours if you like

406-270-8225 * www.darzerbia.com  

February - March Rug Drawing

Win a classic style 3' x 5' Baluch rug

Hand made, All wool

Two Ways To Win the Rug 

Stop by the store and see the rug

Enter the drawing * No purchase necessary, of course

It's that easy!

OR 

Send us your name and email address through the contact form on our site

We will add this to our list and you will receive updates on new shipments that you can view on the site and interesting rug news.

Don't worry. These updates are intermittent and infrequent - no spam! 

We will call or email you when you win. We will also announce the winner in the April Bigfork Chamber Newsletter. 

Free shipping within the continental US for email entrants who live outside the Bigfork area. Arrangements will be made when the winner is drawn.

*** Our goal is simple. We want your feet on our rugs! ***

When I think of all the wonderful people who come and go through our store, I think of all the ways I have heard of how people integrate the rugs they love into their homes and existing decor. People are very creative and it appears that when someone finds a rug they love, they will go to great effort to "find a place for it", move things around, get rid of another rug they are tired of, come up with new ideas for how to use a rug. 

Earlier this spring a rug lover was complaining that she had a house full of rugs and was struggling to justify yet another rug purchase and find a place for it/them, a prominent place, of course since these were going to be her newest prizes. We talked and talked She rearranged her house several times in her mind and out loud. She even redecorated her house out loud a couple of times before she came up with a plan. She simply decided to adopt the overlapping rug decorating style, something she had never thought of before. None of her current rugs would have to find new homes. A few were going to be moved to new rooms. And her new rugs would be woven into her collection by assuming the place of honor - the top rugs in several overlapping clusters in different rooms. She thought she would go with the random overlap, rather than symmetrically placed overlap. She even liked the idea that she could rearrange the clusters and put different rugs on top from time to time. The clusters could be spun toface different directions. Refreshing! And, no padding needed since the rugs padded eachother! Off she went with her rugs and no guilt. A few weeks later she stopped in to say she loved her new rugs and even more, she loved her new overlapping rug decorating technique! So, when you run out of horizontal space - think vertical! Endless possibilities!

I'll be back with more decorating stories soon. Feel free to post yours!

These days, collecting takes place on a lot of levels. A recent Wall Street Journal article explored the world of high end collecting and told about one man's design to collect at least one antique rug from each of the 85 nomadic groups listed in a 1981 landmark study of weavers from the Caucuses. He has one rug to go - a Pinwheel Kazak, and when finished, his collection will be one of a kind and world class. It will also have cost what most people think of as "a fortune." He displays the rugs all over his familie's home and likes to pull out different ones from time to time to change the decor. What decor! How fun! I want those rugs!

Now, I'm a very different kind of collector. As a rug dealer, I watch rugs that I can't afford to own go out the door all the time. The ones I keep for my own collection are very personal and my collection will never be world class. I also have no theme with my collection, at least I don't see one yet. Some rugs have come from trips we've taken. Others were gifts. Some, I have bought because they represent a tribal style I like. I lean toward all wool rugs but vegetable dyes are not a must since good weavers and dyers make beautiful rugs using synthetic dyes. One thing that stands out for me is uniqueness, and a look that says someone's hands touched this rug in a very personal way. One of my favorites is one I call The Ugly Rug. It is a semi-antique sumac style rug with knotted pile sections at each end. Probably a bag at one time. My cat, Mr. Outside, loves it too, and chooses it over others when I have it out. Right now it is put away so I can enjoy a couple of new Pakistani fine, wool rugs with beautiful intricate motifs.  Mr. Outside prefers the darker one of these two.

So, how's your collection developing? Maybe you have one and didn't even realize it. Check and see. Feel free to leave your comments about your own collections so we can all enjoy them from far away.

Be well, and love your rugs

Diana

I can read a rug book like I read a page-turner novel and over the years I have built quite a collection. The nice thing about these books is that it is impossible to absorb everything in them in one reading. So I get to read them over and over, each time finding something new to marvel over. Since Dar Zerbia features tribal and village rugs I want to share my thoughts on one of my newest books and my current favorite.

As the author says, this book is The Definitive Guide to Design, Pattern & Motif of tribal and village rugs. Anyone who loves these rugs knows that the motifs mean something, whether they are part of a story or a singular design feature characteristic of the place of origin of the rug. We have all gotten lost in a beautiful rug and wondered about these mysterious motifs that read like a lost language from a distant and romantic time. Wonder no more because this excellent book explains it all.

The chapters are organized by regions including information on Anatolian, Baluch and neighboring tribes, Caucasian, Kurdish, Persian, and Turkmen motifs, all of which are discussed from every angle in great detail. And, as a foundation, the concepts involved in understanding motifs and their origins are covered in the Introduction section. As a westerner who knows all about balance, symmetry, and finiteness, I loved the section explaining the framing of infinity and how it applies to these amazing rugs and their purposful irregularities and assymetries.

Did you know that motifs devolve? They do. Usually the motif design devolves from a complex form to a simpler form. They devolve from animal to botanical forms, from animal to geometric, and from botanical to geometric. This takes time, of course. Sometimes centuries. Motifs were as nomadic as the people that created them and they moved with lifestyle, and through marriage unions. Subtle changes started to appear and the new forms of old motifs start showing up in the next generation of rugs. Unravelling this devolution is one way rug historians construct information about the origins and ages of tribal rugs. Fascinating!

All of the information in this wonderful book is truly phenomenol, but it's the stunningly beautiful, graphically designed illustrations that took my by surprise. Photographs of actual rugs reveal alot and are what we most often see in a good rug book. We're used to it. But when we are studying motif designs we really do need precision in the illustrations. These crisp, richly colored graphics make sure the reader doesn't miss a single detail of any motif. Every page has numereous examples to go with the accompanying information, and each section has several full page graphics of whole rugs. "Examples are cross referenced from one chapter to another and that keeps the reader moving through the book frequently getting more and more familiar with the motifs. I am very impressed with this format and how it helps the reader leran the material.

There is nothing like a tribal or village woven rug. The motifs are so interesting and the irregularities innate to the weaving make each rug unique. When you touch one of these rugs you can feel the hands of the weaver and feel the direct connection to the person who lovingly created her art. And for anyone who sells, collects or just loves tribal rugs, this book is a gem. You might want it in you own library. First published in 2004 and now in paperback since 2007 it is affordable at about $22.00.

Enjoy this book and enjoy your rugs.

Diana

The Facts

• It is the larva of the moth that actually chews on the carpet. 
• The moth has a typical four stage insect life cycle of egg, larva, cocoon, adult.
• Signs of a possible infestation include actually seeing the moths in the house or on carpets, seeing larva, seeing small black, brown, tan specs or pellets which could be the larva's excrement, bald spots on the carpet. Sometimes the chewed area might be confined to a particulr color or yarn on your carpet, due to preferences of the larva.
• Regularly vacuuming the carpet, under the carpet, between carpet and pad, and under furniture helps greatly in controlling these insects.
• Hand control also works - catch and kill moths or larva.

Insecticides are dangerous in your home and not recommended. If the infestation is bad and beyond your control call an oriental carpet expert for advice on cleaning or fumigating your carpets. Some people use pure lavendar oil to repel insects - it works!

Also, before you store a rug consult with an oriental rug expert for tips on controlling insects during the storage.

So, there you have the basics. This problem is easy to control and a little knowledge goes a long way. Enjoy your rugs!

Diana

These questions make sense. The western eye, for many reasons, has a preference for regular, symmetrical, beginnings and ends, predictability, control, evenness, containment. Even in artwork. So lack of symmetry is especially challenging - to appreciate and to understand.

I will keep the entry short for introduction........and.........to check and see if our setup is actually working.

Be well.

Diana and Tom