Professional Appraisals of Handwoven Area Rugs

Why do you need a professional appraisal?

There are mainly three reasons that you will need a professional appraisal for your rugs:

1. Understanding what you own

It is often that vintage or antique artisan handwoven rug is handed down from one generation to another. To help the new owner to learn about what they have, a professional appraisal is needed. This helps the new owner to better appreciate the heirloom item, care for it and enjoy it for many more years to come.

   2. Insurance and/or the Replacement value

This is for you to properly insure your rugs so that you have a document in case of an incident when the rug is damaged or stolen. You will need the professional appraisal document to submit to your insurance company as part of your claim. Please note that in most cases, you will need a separate rider policy to properly insure your rugs for the insurance and/or replacement value.

  3.  Charitable Donation

95% of rugs have no good “resale” market. To recover some of the value from your rugs, a donation to a legitimate charity organization is one of your best options. If you itemize your tax returns, you may be able to get a tax reduction by donating your rugs to a charity. please check with your accountant to see if you qualify. In that case, you will need a professionally prepared appraisal as part of your tax filing.

Appraisal Process:

We examine & evaluate each rug to determine the age, condition, uniqueness, material, where was it woven, and the quality of workmanship. Based on those elements, we determine an “insurance and/or replacement” value. We can do this examination by scheduling an "In-Person Appraisal" at our gallery. In some cases, it may be necessary or more convenient to schedule a "Virtual Appraisal”. In that case, the client will provide multiple photos, dimensions, state any damages or repairs, and the overall condition of the rug which we will use in the appraisal. We will state in the appraisal document that this was a “Virtual or Remote Appraisal” and is based on the information that was provided by the client.

Here is a Google Review one of our client's wrote about the appraisal we did for them:

Lilyann S. (October, 2021): "Let me start by saying Mostafa is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, honest and a delight to work with. He provided a wealth of information about Persian rugs that my grand mother brought back from Iran in the early 70's. My sister and I called several dealers in the city looking to get an appraisal. Not one took the time to ask questions about the rug. The estimates for the appraisal were on average 3 times the amount Mostafa charged . Mostafa went above and beyond providing detailed information about the rug we had appraised. He is amazing! I highly recommend doing business with him!"

At the Persian Knot Gallery, we believe in reducing our negative impact on the environment. We do this by helping our clients to reduce their carbon footprint by maintaining the rugs that they buy from us.

As our rugs were produced over 75 to 100 years ago and can be used for another 100 years if washed and maintained regularly.

We believe it’s a win-win approach: enjoy the beauty of an artisan handwoven rug whose quality and workmanship will provide use and joy for generations while reducing the negative impact on the climate.