Consumer's Guide To Old Decorative Oriental Rugs; Magic Carpets: An Introduction To Oriental Rugs

These two videos approach the subject of oriental rugs from slightly different viewpoints. The first, Consumer's Guide to Old Decorative Rugs, is essentially a visual catalogue -- using stills -- of some 160 rugs in 34 different categories, produced between 1880-1940. Each rug is given an "artistic rating merit" of 1-5. The host, Val Arbab, has been a specialist in the field for the past 15 years. A separate 44-page guide also covers availability, sizes, designs, colors, condition, and desirability of the rugs shown in the video. The second title, Magic Carpets, is a much more general introduction to Oriental rugs. Hosted by Kitty Davenport, this program shows viewers how rugs are made (using both foreign film footage, and Ms. Davenport demonstrating on a loom), the differences between knotted (or pile) rugs and flat-woven rugs (called kelims or kilims), the various locales where the rugs were made (including a discussion of the differences between tribal village rugs, and those made in the larger cities), how to count the "knots", evaluating a rug (including detailed descriptions of the different dyes used), where and how to buy a rug, and how to care for a rug. But the main body of the program is devoted to a detailed examination of the whole range of Oriental rugs. Although both programs are recommended, Magic Carpets should be a first choice for libraries because of its much more comprehensive approach and much lower price. (A Consumer's Guide to Old Decorative Oriental Rugs is available from: Val-Con, 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 800, Bethesda, MD 20814) (Magic Carpets is available from: WGTE Home Video, 136 Huron St., Toledo, OH 43692.)