What we do

Heritage Rug Buyers purchases vintage and antique handmade rugs directly from private sellers, estates, dealers, and collectors. We work across all major rug-producing traditions — Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Central Asian, North African, and European — and we buy in all conditions, from pristine collector pieces to worn and damaged rugs with inherent historic or aesthetic merit.

Unlike auction houses, we offer a direct purchase: you submit photographs, we assess your rug, and we make you an offer. There are no vendor's fees, no estimates that diverge from the hammer price, and no waiting months for a sale date. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 48 hours.

Our expertise

Our buying team combines formal knowledge of textile history, material culture and regional weaving traditions with long practical experience in the secondary market. We are particularly specialist in:

• Fine Persian city rugs — Isfahan, Tabriz, Kashan, Nain, Heriz, Qom and related centres
• Seirafian and signed Isfahan carpets of the twentieth century
• Antique Caucasian and tribal weavings — Kazak, Shirvan, Karabagh, Qashqai and Baluch
• Ottoman and classical Anatolian rugs
• European flatweaves — Aubusson, Savonnerie and related workshop weavings
• Estate and collection acquisitions of any scale

How we value rugs

Every rug we assess is evaluated across the same core factors: maker attribution, regional origin, age and period of production, weaving construction, materials (wool, silk, cotton or mixed), natural versus synthetic dye history, design type and rarity, size, and current condition. We do not apply simplistic price-per-square-metre formulas; we assess each piece on its own merits.

Where a rug is of particular importance — a fine signed Seirafian, a rare Safavid fragment, or a large-scale Aubusson — we may request additional photographs or propose an in-person viewing before making a final offer. We are always transparent about our reasoning.

Working with estates and collections

We regularly work with executors, solicitors and family members handling inherited rug collections, and with private collectors who are rationalising or dispersing holdings. We understand the sensitivities involved and aim to make the process as straightforward as possible, including providing written documentation of our assessments for estate or probate purposes where needed.

Our editorial content

The guides and articles on this website are written by our buying team from firsthand knowledge and ongoing market experience. We do not monetise our guides with affiliate links or sponsored content. Our goal is to give rug owners genuinely useful information — on identification, valuation, the selling process, and the care and preservation of valuable pieces — that helps them make informed decisions, whether or not they ultimately sell to us.