Floor Rugs
In 1519, the powerful Wolsey put pressure on the Venetian merchants living in London to get him one hundred carpets from the Orient.
This was an appalling order (or bribe), but the Venetians were making a tremendous effort to win his favor, and after much correspondence with the home office, they succeeded in delivering sixty.
All imported Orientals were called "Turkey carpets," probably for two reasons. The earliest rugs brought to England were ,' Turkish. The shipping point for all the products of the East was Constantinople.
"Turkey work," on the other hand, meant fabrics hand-knotted fin. Engknd in imitation of Oriental weaving.
To distinguish s carpets which were used on tables and chairs from those used On floors, we find the word "fote-cloth" written in early inventories.
