Oriental Rug Books Authors Beginning with R

If I lost it I would not replace it.

Of some use but not one I would go out of my way to find.

Useful.

Very useful and one I would recommend strongly.

A very important or even the definitive work on the subject. It does not have to be perfect but if I give it 5 stars and you are interested in that area then you should own a copy.

Not Yet Rated - I haven't gotten to it yet so if you wish to review it please feel free. There is a limit to how many books I can read so it it is not rated do not assume anything is wrong with the book. If you disagree with any of my opinions write me and I may annotate this list with your comments.

Rageth, J. & U. Hirsch. Fruhe Formen & Farben. 1991,

Rageth, J., ed. Anatolische Kelims. 1990,

Rageth, Jurg ed.: Anatolische Kelims ; Basel: 1990.

Rageth, Jurg ed.: Anatolian Kilims and Radiocarbon Dating ; Basel: 1999. 12 x 9.5, Papers presented at the 2nd Symposium on Anatolian kilims in Liestal, Switzerland., 64 CP 183 b/w.

Ramazanoglu, Gulseren. Turkish Embroidery ; NY: 1976. NY: 1976. 8 x 9, GWO 2332. Colors, patterns and stitches are described for modern embroiders., 26 CP 60 b/w.

Ramirez, F. & Rolot, C. Tapis et Tissages Du Maroc. 1995,

Raphaelian, H. M. The Hidden Language of Symbols in Oriental Rugs ; New Rochelle: 1953.

Raphaelian, H.M. Rugs of Armenia, Their History and Art ; New Rochelle, NY: 1960.

Ratchnevsky, Paul. Genghis Khan His Life and Legacy. Cambridge and Oxford U.K.: Blackwell, 1991.

Thomas N. Haining's translation of Ratchnevsky's master piece is wonderful. Highly readable and enjoyable. Very good index. You can not really understand Islamic Art without understanding the Mongol influence. This is a excellent place to start.

Rautenstengel, A. & Azadi, S. Studien Zur Teppich-Kultur Der Turkmen. 1990,

Rautenstengel, A. and V. and Azadi, S.: Studies on Turkoman Culture. Hilden: 1990.

INDIAN ART. Essays by Prof. H.G.Rawlinson, K.de B.Codrington, J.V.S.Wilkinson and John Irwin. London UK: Faber & Faber. 1947.

Fascinating older look at Indian Art from a distinctly British viewpoint. In the style of the British before the fall of the Empire.

Rawson Cristopher and Walter Gardner: A Dictionary of Dyes, Mordents and Other Compounds Used in Dyeing and Calico Printing ; London: 1901. 6 x 9.

Rawson, Philip. Indian Art. New York: Dutton Pictureback, 1972.

Not a very impressive looking little book so I shelved it for ages before looking at it. I misjudged it because when I finally got around to it I found it well written with good black and white pictures.

Reed, Christopher. Turkoman Rugs. Cambridge: Fogg Art Museum, 1966.

Foreword by Joseph V. McMullan. This was the book from an important early Turkmen rug show at Harvard's Fogg Museum. This book has been eclipsed by a wealth of latter material. In it's day it was a five star book.

Reed, Stanley. Oriental Carpets and Rugs. New York: Octopus Books, 1972.

A rather dated general rug book that I do not use much.

Reeves, N. & Taylor, J. Howard Carter Before Tutankamun. 1992, British Museum.

Reid, James J. Tribalism and Society in Islamic Iran. Malibu: Udena Publications, 1983.

This is an extremely valuable historical resource on the tribes of Iran in the Safavid period. This is a very controversial book because of the political infighting when this book was released rather than the content of the book. I was scared to use this book as a source but I called one of the top anthropologists in the field and found out the real story on this book as a source.

Reid, J.W. Textile Art of Peru. 1993,

Reinisch, Helmut. & Stanzer, W. Berber. Graz: Helmut Reinisch, 1992.

A detailed comprehensive book on Moroccan carpets. If you are interested in Moroccan Carpets you should have a copy. A gift from "Uncle Jimmy" Keshishian who felt I needed this book. Text in French and English.

Reinisch, H. Gabbeh. The Georges D. Bornet Collection. 1986,

Reinisch, H. Saddle Bags/ Sattel Taschen. Graz, Austria 1985. German/English.

Reinisch, H. Von Bagdad Nach Stambul. 1983,

Reswick, Irmfraud. Traditional Textiles of Tunisia ; Los Angles: 1985.

Reuben, David M. Gols and Guls: Turkmen Carpets from the 18th and 19th Centuries. London: David M Reuben, ., 1998

Guest Reviewer Steven Louw Although essentially a dealers’ inventory, this beautifully illustrated exhibition catalogue of 80 rare, relatively early, Turkmen carpets, provides a wonderful sample of some of the best mid- to top-range Turkoman carpets available to the collector today. As is common with rug books, the strong point is the pictures. All of the carpets are illustrated in colour, most on a full page, with brief notes on each. The collection is particularly strong on Ersari main carpets – fig 26 and 38 are personal favorites – but provides a good sample of carpets from all of the major weaving groups, bar the Salor. Both of the Arabatchi main carpets illustrated deserve particular note. Reuben’s somewhat controversial views on design evolution in Turkomen carpets are set out in an all too brief introduction. Reuben hopes to avoid the now discredited notion, once advanced by Moshkova, that defeated Turkmen peoples abandoned the gols used on their main carpets in favor of those used by their conquerors. Instead, based on design layout and symbolic origin, Reuben suggests a distinction between main carpets with gols and guls. The origin of the two main Turkmen gols, the Gulli and Tauk Noska gols, goes back hundreds of years, as opposed to the more recent designs employed by settled or semi-settled Turkmen. These latter are more properly called guls. Accordingly, Reuben divides Turkmen main carpets into three groups. The first, "strictly tribal carpets with tribal gols", are gol carpets proper, that is, their design consists of a several columns and rows of gols separated by minor guls. The second and third groups, by contrast, were woven by settled and partially settled Turkic peoples, using arrangements of guls as primary ornaments instead. In this way, Reuben hopes to explain the continued evolution as well as the juxtaposition of older and newer symbols on carpets without reliance on clearly inaccurate notions of independent and subordinate tribes. However Reuben offers little evidence to support this argument, and, in the last resort, it is not always clear how the distinction between gol and gul (even assuming this is accurate) allows us to understand and periodise carpet design. Distinctions between tribal and settled peoples are anthropologically dubious at best, and understate the reciprocal influences which rural and urban, nomadic and settled, and indeed, relatively homogenous and cosmopolitan communities had on each other. This is particularly evident with Ersari carpets, most of which fall into the second and third of Reuben’s categories. Personally, I am more convinced by Pinner’s more recent arguments in favor of multiple sources of design evolution.

Revault, Jacques. Designs and Patterns from North African Carpets and Textiles. NY: 1973.

Rhie, M.M. & Thurman, R.A.F. Wisdom and Compassion: the Sacred Art of Tibet. 1991,

Riboud, K., Desroches, J.-P., Myers, M., Simcox, J., Jera-Bezard, R., and Lorquin, A. Soieries Bouddhiques.

Rice, David Talbot. Islamic Art. New York: Praeger World of Art 1965.

Rice, David Talbot. Islamic Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1975

A very solid general work on Islamic art. I like this one. This was a help in building my background information.

Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

It would have been hard to understand the dynamics of Mughal art if I did not have this book. The part dealing with the role of Uzbeks in Mughal India is very important. The interplay between the Shia and the Sunni and the rivalry between the Persian and the Turanian elements in Mughal politics comes through in this book as it does in no other that I found.

Ripley, Mary C. The Oriental Rug Book ; NY: 1904.

Ripley, Mary Churchill. The Chinese Rug Book ; NY: 1927.

Ripley, M.C. The Oriental Rug Book. 1936

Rivero, M.E. and John J. von Tschudi: Peruvian Antiquities ; NY: 1855. 5 x 7 Hardback, About 25 b/w illus. & figs.

Rivers, Gayle. The War Against The Terrorists. New York, Stein and Day. 1986

What a nice book. It reads with an air of truth and gives a good picture of terrorists. Rivers is a pseudonym and I have a feeling Rivers might be the fellow who did some good work, a power plant if my memory serves, in the war against godless Communism down in Nicaragua.

Rizvi, Saiyid Athar Abbas. Fatehpur Sikri. New Delhi: Archeological Survey of India, 1972.

For a very solid glimpse of Mughal art this book is a help. However it has more plans than pictures.

Rizzardi, C. I TESSUTI Copti Del Museo Nazionale Di Ravenna (Coptic Textiles in the National Museum of Ravenna). 1993,

Ramirez, F. & Rolot, C. Tapis Et Tissages Du Maroc. 1995,

Roberts, E.H. Islamic Carpets. In Bulletin, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, 36:4-113, 1978.

Roberts, Ernest H. Treasures From Near Eastern Looms. Ernest H. Roberts, 1981.

A very nice catalogue especially since it is from 1981. The major weakness is the black and white photography. A gift from W. Russell Pickering.

Roberts, Edna H. Oriental Rugs - The Way to Know and Judge Them. New York: 1928.

Robinson, B.W., Skelton, R.W., Spuhler, F., Fehervari, G. Watson, O, & Pinder-Wilson, R.H. Islamic Art in the Kier Collection. London UK: 1988.

Robinson is brilliant and the others sound. Spuhler does the carpets and it is a good solid job. At a certain level you have to have this book because it is cited so often.

Robinson, B. W. Fifteenth Century Persian Painting Problems and Issues. 1991: New York: New York University Press, 1991.

Robinson covers a interesting section of art and I am intrigued by his discussion of the Central Asian art however this book is a pretty dry read and could use more pictures. As I reread my annotation and reread the book I have to note that the more I know about the subject the more interesting Robinson's book seems. Perhaps rather that "dry" it is geared to the advanced student of 15th century Islamic art. Having read this book a third time I am starting to get it. There is much to consider such as the style of cloudbands used in pre-Mughal Sultanate art.

Robinson, B. W. Persian Drawing. Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1965.

A very good book for it's day. This book was a building block that allowed later books to surpass it. It is still a very useful and interesting book but would change in many ways if Robinson were to write it today.

Robinson, B. W. Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library. Totowa: Sotheby Parke Bernet., 1980.

This is a wonderful book. I really enjoy Robinson and it is some of his very best work. However I wish there were better pictures and more color. Robinson could well be right but I have an uneasy feeling with some of his second half sixteenth century attributions. Some of his Shiraz pieces look like Mashad to me. He more than makes up for it with his section on Pre-Mughal Sultanate States art from India. From a carpet standpoint if the Pre-Mughal Sultanate States produced art and there are rugs in the art why must we assume that they did not weave.

Robinson, B. W. Persian Miniature Paintings From Collections in The British Isles. London UK: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1980.

Robinson, Stuart: A History of Dyed Textiles ; Cambridge (M.I.T. Press): 1969. 9.5 x 6.5 Hardback

Rogers, Clive. Ed. Early Islamic Textiles. London UK: Rogers & Podmore. 1983,

Rogers, Clive: Turkish Prayer Rugs, An Exhibition. Brighton: 1978.

Rogers, Anthony. et al. Flashpoint. London UK: Arms and Armor, 1994.

Excellent section on the Afghan war. Good pictures of the arms and very good back ground on the dynamics of the Mujaheddin movement.

Rogers, J. M. Mughal Miniatures. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993.

This book is part of a structured series where each book is the same basic size and is to sell at the same price. The problem with this is that Rogers covers a wide area very thinly. To do justice to the material touched on Rogers would have need a far larger book to do it justice. The links between the illustrations and the text can be rather tenuous and it is not always apparent just what point Rogers is illustrating. More information on attributions of the illustrations would have been very welcome. Having said all that let me note that it has great pictures for a smaller book and the more I read it the more I realize that Rogers has an important message that he states eloquently. It is a better book than we have a right to expect by the price.

Rogers, J. M. (ed) The Topkapi Saray Museum: Carpets. Translated, expanded and edited...from the original Turkish

Wonderful look at an important collection. At least part of it is important. The Prayer Rugs are fantastic and then there is a collection of mundane furnishing carpets. A small note I hope I don't sound too picky but the book suffers from one tiny flaw. A significant number of the rugs are incorrectly attributed. More than 20 of the first thirty five are completely wrong in their attributions. These the most important rugs in the catalogue are attributed to Hereke or Istanbul 19th century when they are actually from 16th century Khorassan. So I will leave the book it's 4 stars with the caveat to take Rogers with a grain of salt when it comes to prayer rugs. Why 4  stars< The pictures and the structural details are worth it.

Rogers, J. M. ed.: The Topkapi Museum: Carpets ; Germany: 1987.

Rogers, J. M.: The Topkapi Saray Museum Textiles: Costumes, Embroideries, and Other Textiles ; Boston: 1986. 8.5 x 11.5, Museum catalog of wonderful ornate textiles from the 15th-19th centuries. Slipcased., 136 CP.

Rogers, J.M. ed. The Topkapi Saray Museum: Carpets. 1987. 8.5 x 11.5, Mostly urban Turkish silk prayer rugs., 98 CP.

Roseaman, I. P.: Rug Making ; Peoria: (1950?). 5.5 x 8.5, Published by the Dryad Press., 21 b/w.

Rosie, George. The Directory of International Terrorism. New York: Paragon House. 1987.

This book bills it's self as the definitive work on Terrorism. In trying to be comprehensive it splatters mud on many fine people. Be very cautious of any information in this book. For instance to list General John Singlaub is highly questionable and in my opinion shameful. Strong pro-British bias so much so that it may be considered a mouthpiece of the British Government.

Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

The definitive work on Khubilai Khan.

Rossetti, B. Die Turkmenen Und Ihre Teppiche. Eine Ethnologische Studie. (The Turkmen and their carpets, an ethnographic Study)

Rossetti, Brigitte: Die Turkmenen und Ihre Teppiche (Turkomans and Their Rugs) ; Berlin: 1992.

Rostov, Charles and Jia Guanyan. Chinese Carpets ; Abrams, NY: 1983.

Rowland, Benjamin Ancient Art from Afghanistan: Treasures of the Kabul Museum. New York, Asia Society/Abrams, (1966).

Catalogue of the Exhibition presented under the Patronage of the man who abandoned his country for the hardship of the Italian Riviera; Mohammed Zaher Shah. Eurocentic but still a good glimpse of some very rare treasures from what is now called Afghanistan.

Rowland, Benjamin, Jr. Gandhara Sculpture From Pakistan Museums. New York: Asia Society, 1960.

Eurocentic but readable and loaded with valuable information. The B&W pictures are not a problem with this subject matter.

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney / Oriental Rug Society of New South Wales. Flowers of the Loom. 1990,

Roy, Olivier. Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

One of the very best books on the Soviet Afghan war. Roy is clear, intelligent, and understandable.

Rubin, Barry. Paved With Good Intentions. Middlesex UK: Penguin Books. 1980.

"Rugs From The McMullan Collection". Washington DC. Smithsonian Institution, 1966.

Very good show catalogue for 1966. There are better books on the McMullan Collection. Only the cover is in color.

Rutherford, T., Eiland, M.L., Shimkhada, D., Wright, N.H. Woven Jewels. Tibetian Rugs From Southern.

Rutschowscaya, M.-H. Coptic Fabrics. 1990,

Ryder, M.L. Sheep And Man. 1983, Duckworth.