The Motifs Explained
People enjoying the designs on discount area rugs are quick to enjoy the colors and intricate weaves, but they rarely understand that these designs are anything but haphazard. Although to some degree the motifs on these rugs are often open to interpretation and wrongly attributed, the same ones persistently reoccur in many different designs. One thing seems certain—the geometric shapes and designs tell of a fascination with an order in the universe that is almost ancient in its appeal.
One of the most predominant of these is the cross and its variants. These are both very predominant in both Christian and Muslim discount area rugs an even modern examples like the Kas Collections pay homage to this ancient form with their Alexandria Area Rugs that are built to mimic those older designs. The cross is considered an ancient symbol that appears in every ancient culture and it stands close to the circle and the square in its importance as a symbol. It’s thought that even to the ancients, the far outer points of the cross symbolized the furthest points in the universe that they could imagine.
There are an infinite number of examples of the geometric shapes of the rectangle, the triangle and the hexagon as well. All of these are very predominant in even the most ancient discount area rugs as well. As you might expect, many the ancient cultures that produced area rugs were also sun worshippers and to that end many of the designs that they wove into their rugs reflected this belief.
All the star crosses that can be found in the early examples of the area rugs suggest the inward turning rays of the sun. Many of the people in ancient cultures were left to express their beliefs and early religions through the art that they had at their disposal at the time, and these discount area rugs often told the story of their pagan beliefs as surely as if they’d left written documentation. One of the more popular variations on this theme is the classic eight-branch star in the shape of a crab. There is also a variation that is in the shape of a set of stairs that many beleive symbolizes the journey to the afterlife.
One of the most surprising variations on this theme is the swastika. Although it is historically identified with Germany’s socialist party, it is in reality a decorative element that is a universal sign that appears on many carpets.
