A History of Tufted Rugs

Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

A History of Tufted Rugs

From needle-made pile and candlewick spreads to the broadloom mills of Dalton, the hand-held gun and the robot, told from patents, trade papers, archives and the objects themselves.

By Tim Eads

Contents

All 13 chapters in prototype draft
  1. Shade 1WheatHow rugs are made, and where tufting fits5th–4th c. BCE–1971Read the chapter
  2. Shade 2OxbloodBefore the machine: bed rugs and needle-made pile1778–1972Read the chapter
  3. Shade 3NavyBrussels, Wilton and Kidderminster: woven carpet before tufting1627–1956Read the chapter
  4. Shade 4RoseFrom candlewick spreads to the Bedspread Capital1895–1949Read the chapter
  5. Shade 5OchreBuilding the machine1920–1981Read the chapter
  6. Shade 6TealNylon and the broadloom boom1937–1977Read the chapter
  7. Shade 7IndigoImported from America: tufting goes abroad1954–1967Read the chapter
  8. Shade 8PlumChina: palace carpets, export factories and Cuihuangkou1890–2023Read the chapter
  9. Shade 9RustFrom the turfing implement to the tufting gun1891–1990Read the chapter
  10. Shade 10UmberIndia: Bhadohi, Panipat and the hand-tufted carpet1881–2025Read the chapter
  11. Shade 11JadeWho tufts now: the mills and the studiosc. 1920–2022Read the chapter
  12. Shade 12SlateProgrammable tufting: from the pattern attachment to the robot1956–2014Read the chapter
  13. Shade 13MossThe hand tool returns: hobby tufting and poke-poke1973–2021Read the chapter