How to recognize a Qom
Qom rugs are asymmetric‑knotted at 400 to 1,000 knots per square inch. The famous ones are all silk, pile and foundation, with a sheen that shifts as you walk around them and designs that range from medallions and hunting scenes to pictorial and garden compositions, frequently signed. Wool Qoms use kork wool on a cotton or silk foundation, often with silk highlights, in similar designs. Sizes are mostly small: 2×3 mats, 3×5, 4×6 and 5×7, with room sizes rare and costly.
Long Island Qoms are usually silk, usually bought abroad or inherited, and usually hanging on a wall or lying in a low‑traffic room in Great Neck, Kings Point, Roslyn, Old Westbury, Lloyd Harbor or Southampton.
- Origin
- Qom, central Iran
- Knot
- Asymmetric; 400–1,000 kpsi
- Pile
- Silk, or kork wool with silk
- Foundation
- Silk (silk Qom), cotton or silk (wool Qom)
- Dyes
- Brilliant; silk dyes move readily when warm
- Our method
- Fiber test → dye test → gentle dusting → flat hand wash (silk) or gentle cool immersion (wool) → hand rinse → blot or brief spin → cool flat dry → hand finishing
