Alain DemaillyVisited May 2026
A new lease of life for our Hereke rug. Colours revived, selvedges restored, fringes redone — the work of true professionals. Alain and Josy
— Conservation atelier founded in 1950
— Free quote, no obligation
Free pickup and delivery anywhere in France.
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— Conservation atelier founded in 1950
Reviews translated from French.
Alain DemaillyVisited May 2026
A new lease of life for our Hereke rug. Colours revived, selvedges restored, fringes redone — the work of true professionals. Alain and Josy
Zina DandellisVisited May 2026
The foundation of our rug was restored to perfection. I am delighted with the work — it looks brand new!
Michel ZinalVisited March 2026
Very careful fringe repair on my wool-and-silk Persian rug. The result is impeccable, with real respect for the materials and the craft. I recommend them without hesitation!
Jean-Claude BourgoinVisited May 2026
We have just received our rug back after restoration. We are very pleased with the work and with the way we were looked after. Bravo — a company to recommend.
— Manifesto
“An antique rug is not repaired.
It is restored — thread by thread, knot by knot, with absolute respect for the time it carries.”
— Tapis Boeuf, family atelier founded in 1950 · Sartrouville
— Heritage expertise
Yes — restoring an antique rug is almost always worth it: a conservation-grade antique rug restoration protects, and often multiplies, the value of a piece whose vegetable dyes, fine knotting and patina money can no longer buy. At the Tapis Boeuf family atelier, founded in 1950, every repair is rewoven by hand with period wools and silks dyed to match the original. Working on such a rug demands a trained eye for regional signatures and a steady hand.
Founded in 1950, our rug repair atelier has specialised in heritage pieces — Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, Chinese and French Aubusson. Each rug is diagnosed individually: its age, its origin, its knot density, and the condition of its warp and weft (the vertical and horizontal threads that form a rug's hidden skeleton), its foundation (the woven base those threads create beneath the pile), its fringes, its selvedges (the reinforced edges that protect each long side) and its colours.
The rugs we restore are between 80 and 400 years old. A Kashan Mohtashem from the 1880s, a turn-of-the-century Heriz, an antique silk Qom, a Louis XV Aubusson — each calls for different gestures. With over 75 years of expertise and an archive of yarns built across five generations, our family atelier restores them all to conservation standards.
— Heritage case files
Real commissions from our workshop in Sartrouville, 20 minutes from central Paris. Shared anonymously.
Case I
Kashan Mohtashem, 1880
2.1 × 1.4 m · kork wool
A family heirloom inherited from a collector grandfather. Three large holes in the field, fringes torn away at both ends, loose selvedges, colours dulled by time and an ill-advised household wash. Estimated value before restoration: €8,000.
Four months in the workshop. Reweaving (rebuilding the missing warp, weft and knots, thread by thread) across all three holes, new fringes woven on the loom, both selvedges rebound by hand, and the madder reds gently revived. Estimated value after restoration: €22,000.
Case II
Antique silk Qom
1.5 × 1 m · pure silk, 800 raj
A 1920s silk Qom bought at auction, exceptionally fine at around 6 million knots per square metre. Damage: a deep 8 cm² burn in the field from a fallen lamp, plus a few snags along the fringes.
Three months in the workshop. The burn was rewoven in archive silk under a binocular magnifier, matching the design knot by knot. The repair is invisible to the naked eye — confirmed by an independent expert — and the piece regained its auction value.
— Our method
Every restoration is a set of coordinated gestures. Depending on the diagnosis, we combine some or all of the interventions below.
01
Fringes
Securing stitches, or complete fringes rewoven on the loom. Essential once the ends begin to unravel — an antique rug loses length first.
Explore fringe repair →02
Selvedges
The edge is rebound with tone-on-tone cord, stitched entirely by hand. Needed when the long sides start to give way.
Request an estimate →03
Holes
Repiling when the foundation is sound; full reweaving when warp and weft are gone. Moth damage, burns, deep wear.
See how reweaving works →04
Colours
Old vegetable dyes fade and drift. Light glazes and hand-applied corrections restore depth without erasing the patina.
Discuss your colours →05
Cleaning
A flat hand wash with pH-neutral plant-based soap, never a machine. The indispensable first step before any restoration.
How we clean antique rugs →✦
Full restoration
On heritage pieces we combine several interventions in a single coordinated project. A global quote follows the diagnosis.
Request a full quote →— The process
Every restoration follows the same rhythm.
Before
Initial condition
Holes · torn fringes · dulled colours · worn patina
During
Restored by hand
Curved needle · archive yarns · binocular magnifier · patience
After
The piece restored
Invisible repair · revived colours · patina preserved
— Our approach
Every rug is examined under magnification the day it arrives. We record the weaving school, the probable period, the knot density, the condition of the foundation, the stability of the dyes, worn areas, holes and any moth activity.
That diagnosis sets the scale of the project — several months for a badly damaged heritage piece, a few weeks for localised wear. It also tells us when restraint will serve the rug better than intervention.
Guiding principle
“What an antique rug holds most precious is its time. Our duty is to conserve it — invisibly.”
— Pricing
There is no standard price grid for antique rug restoration. Each piece is examined individually before we commit to a figure. The final price depends on the rug's age, knot density, size, materials and the extent of the work required.
A simple fringe repair on a village rug may cost a few hundred euros. A complete antique carpet restoration — an 1880s Kashan with moth damage, loose selvedges and dulled colours — can represent several thousand euros and months of workshop time. Only a photo diagnosis allows a precise figure.
How we quote
— Frequently asked questions
A rug is considered antique once it is 80 to 100 years old, by convention among dealers and auction houses. The older the rug, the more its patina, vegetable dyes and fragile fibres call for specialist conservation skills. At Tapis Boeuf we restore pieces between 80 and 400 years old.
Antique rug restoration typically ranges from a few hundred euros for a simple fringe repair to several thousand euros for a full restoration of a museum-grade piece. The exact cost depends on the rug's age, size, knot density, materials and the extent of the damage. Send us photos and we return a detailed quote within 48 hours, with free pickup and delivery.
Yes — a conservation-grade restoration can be invisible to the naked eye, and that is the standard we work to. We reweave with hand-dyed archive wools and silks matched to the original patina, following the rug's own knotting and design. On most pieces the restored area cannot be found even up close.
Yes — a conservation-grade restoration preserves, and often increases, an antique rug's market value. Work that respects the original materials, dyes and structure keeps a collectible rug insurable and saleable. A crude repair with modern yarns, by contrast, can permanently reduce its value.
Yes. From our workshop in Sartrouville, 20 minutes from central Paris, we serve France, Monaco, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg, with insured transport and free pickup and delivery for precious pieces. Wherever the rug lives, the process is the same: send photos of the piece and we return a detailed quote within 48 hours.
— A tailored quote
Send photos of the front, the back and the damaged areas. We reply within 48 hours with a detailed diagnosis and a precise figure. Antique rug restoration is what our family atelier, founded in 1950, has always done — entrust your piece to hands that treat time as their material.