Oriental Carpet Manufacturers
Oriental Carpet Manufacturers was a London-based producer and international trader of handwoven Anatolian and Persian carpets.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (OCM) was a British-controlled carpet manufacturing and trading company established in Smyrna, now İzmir, at the end of 1907 or the beginning of 1908. Although London became the company’s principal commercial base, its production system was organized across several traditional carpet-producing regions of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, and Iran. OCM differed from a conventional merchant house because it controlled or established manufacturing facilities, supplied raw materials and technical specifications, directed designs, and coordinated sales in overseas markets. The company emerged during a period when oriental rugs were becoming increasingly accessible to Western consumers. Anatolian carpets had long been exported to Europe as luxury goods, but industrialization and expanding middle-class purchasing power enlarged the market. OCM’s founders sought to industrialize and standardize parts of the traditional production process while retaining the visual language and handwoven character associated with prestigious oriental carpets. Looms and related equipment were obtained from Germany and Austria, and early company-owned facilities were established in western Anatolia, including Manisa Province. By 1912, OCM controlled a substantial share of the looms operating in the Konya Vilayet. Contemporary descriptions associated with the company’s operations refer to approximately 12,000 looms and between 15,000 and 20,000 mostly female weavers in the region. The business supplied preselected yarns, prescribed designs, and managed production through workshops and home-based workers. This model enabled the company to produce carpets in volumes and styles suited to export buyers, particularly in Europe and the United States. It also reflected the difficult labor conditions of the period: the supplied material states that OCM workers operated at faster rates and lower wages than workers associated with traditional Uşak manufacturers. OCM expanded into northwestern Iran in 1911, where Arthur Cecil Edwards established a factory in Hamadan. Traditional village rug weaving remained active in the surrounding region, but urban carpet production had largely disappeared. Edwards initially worked with eight looms and gradually developed a much larger manufacturing operation. By the time he retired in 1948, more than 1,000 looms were operating in Hamadan, with the largest workshop containing 120 looms. The Hamadan operation was also a technical and design laboratory. Edwards selected construction methods, knot types, yarn specifications, colors, and patterns with both quality and cost in mind. The company used cotton warps and wefts, double-weft construction, symmetrical Turkish knots, and a target density of approximately 10 by 11 knots per square inch. Wool was obtained from Kurdish nomads in Kermanshah Province. OCM initially experimented with synthetic dyes but moved to traditional Persian natural dyes after finding the early colors unsatisfactory. Designs drew on classical Safavid-period Persian motifs and were modified for American buyers. The resulting Hamadan products were marketed under the trade name “Alvand,” referring to the nearby Alvand Mountains. From 1924 to 1948, Edwards led the company from London as managing director. He broadened OCM’s commercial activity in the United States and established factories in India in an effort to reduce production costs. After retiring, he documented the company’s Hamadan methods and the wider technical characteristics of Persian carpets in a textbook that remains influential among carpet collectors. OCM shares were still traded on the London Stock Exchange in the 1960s, but the company faced intensifying competition from machine-made rugs and lower-quality carpets sold at mass-market prices. The business was sold and merged with its former affiliate, the Eastern Kayam Company, during the 1980s. Sources describe the transaction as occurring in 1983, while the company’s final dissolution is described as taking place in 1986. OCM is therefore best understood as a defunct historical carpet manufacturer whose importance lies in its organization of handwoven production, its role in the international oriental-rug trade, and the technical record preserved through Edwards’s work.
History
Oriental Carpet Manufacturers was founded by British merchants in Smyrna at the end of 1907 or the start of 1908. Its creation followed a major expansion in Western demand for oriental rugs and the increasing involvement of European trading companies in Anatolian production. Rather than relying solely on independent merchants, OCM developed a controlled manufacturing network. It acquired looms and technical equipment from Germany and Austria, established facilities in western Anatolia, and supplied production materials and design instructions to workshops and home-based weavers. The company became particularly influential in the Konya region. By 1912 it controlled most of the looms operating in the Konya Vilayet, involving roughly 12,000 looms and 15,000 to 20,000 weavers, predominantly women. Its system allowed export buyers’ preferences to be translated into repeatable specifications, but the supplied historical account also notes that labor was demanding and wages were lower than those associated with traditional Uşak production. In 1911, OCM entered Iran. Arthur Cecil Edwards established a small factory in Hamadan with eight looms, reviving organized production in an area where carpets were traditionally woven in villages rather than in the town itself. The operation expanded steadily. By Edwards’s retirement in 1948, more than 1,000 looms were active in Hamadan. OCM developed detailed standards for knot structure, density, yarn preparation, dyeing, pile, and pattern. Edwards favored symmetrical Persian-region knots, cotton foundations with double wefts, and dense but economically viable construction. Wool came from Kurdish nomads in Kermanshah Province, while the company’s dyeing practices moved from unsatisfactory synthetic colors toward traditional natural dyes. The Hamadan carpets used designs adapted from sixteenth-century Safavid traditions and modified for American customers. OCM sold these products under the name Alvand, derived from the nearby Alvand Mountains. The name helped distinguish the company’s controlled production from other carpets made in Hamadan Province. In 1924 Edwards relocated to London and became OCM’s managing director. He expanded the company’s American business and later arranged production in India to lower costs. His tenure ended with his retirement in 1948. He subsequently wrote a major reference work on Persian carpets, preserving detailed information about OCM’s manufacturing methods and the technical criteria used in its products. OCM remained a significant international carpet business for much of the twentieth century. Its shares were still listed in London during the 1960s, but it faced pressure from competitors selling inexpensive machine-made and lower-quality rugs. During the 1980s the company was sold and combined with the Eastern Kayam Company, a former affiliate. The supplied sources place the sale and merger in 1983 and the final dissolution in 1986. The variation likely reflects different stages of the company’s disposal and legal winding-up. OCM no longer operates, but its history remains relevant to the industrial organization of oriental-rug production and to the study of Persian carpet manufacture.
- 1986
Final dissolution
[1]The company is described as having been finally dissolved in 1986.
- 1983
Sale and merger with Eastern Kayam
[1]Sources describe OCM as being sold and merged with its former affiliate, the Eastern Kayam Company, during the 1980s, with one account placing the transaction in 1983.
- 1960
London listing continues
[1]OCM shares remained listed on the London Stock Exchange during the 1960s.
- 1948
Edwards retires
[1]Edwards retired after leading OCM for approximately twenty-four years; the Hamadan operation had grown to more than 1,000 looms.
- 1924
Edwards becomes managing director
[1]Arthur Cecil Edwards moved to London and assumed leadership of OCM, expanding its United States business.
- 1912
Large-scale Konya production network
[1]The company controlled a major share of the looms operating in the Konya Vilayet, involving approximately 12,000 looms and up to 20,000 weavers.
- 1911
Expansion into Iran
[1]OCM entered Iran and Arthur Cecil Edwards established a carpet factory in Hamadan.
- 1907
Company established in Smyrna
[1]A group of British merchants established Oriental Carpet Manufacturers at the end of 1907 or the beginning of 1908 in Smyrna, now İzmir.
Products and positioning
A vertically coordinated producer and exporter of handwoven oriental carpets, combining regional weaving traditions with standardized specifications, controlled designs, and international distribution.
Anatolian carpets
Konya-region carpets
Handwoven carpets produced through OCM’s extensive network in the Konya Vilayet. The company supplied yarns, designs, and production guidance to workshops and home-based weavers, enabling carpets from a traditional Anatolian region to be made in commercially coordinated volumes for export markets.
Persian carpets · 1911
Alvand carpets
OCM’s trade name for carpets manufactured in and around Hamadan using a controlled construction method developed under Arthur Cecil Edwards. The rugs combined Safavid-inspired designs with specifications for knot type, density, yarn, dye, and foundation, and were adapted in part to the preferences of American buyers.
Persian carpets · 1911
Hamadan carpets
Carpets made in OCM’s Hamadan operation, which began with eight looms and expanded to more than 1,000 by 1948. The products used regional wool, cotton warps and wefts, double-weft construction, symmetrical knots, and eventually traditional Persian natural dyes.
Brand decisions
1983
Sale and combination with Eastern KayamM&ABackground
OCM came under pressure from producers of lower-quality and machine-made rugs sold at mass-market prices.
Action taken
The company was sold and merged with the Eastern Kayam Company, described as one of its former affiliates.
Aftermath
OCM ceased to operate as an independent business; another account dates its final dissolution to 1986.
1924
Expanding American distributionStrategyBackground
After moving to London and becoming managing director, Edwards pursued broader international sales for OCM’s handwoven carpets.
Action taken
OCM expanded its commercial activities in the United States and adjusted designs to suit American buyer preferences.
Aftermath
The United States became an important target market for OCM’s controlled-production carpets, including Alvand rugs.
1911
Establishing production in HamadanStrategyBackground
OCM sought to extend its controlled manufacturing model beyond Anatolia into a Persian carpet-producing region where village weaving remained important but organized urban production had largely disappeared.
Action taken
Arthur Cecil Edwards opened a factory in Hamadan, initially operating eight looms and developing a standardized production system.
Aftermath
The operation grew to more than 1,000 looms by Edwards’s retirement in 1948 and became associated with the Alvand trade name.
- Moving some production to IndiaStrategy
Background
OCM faced pressure to control manufacturing costs in an international market increasingly affected by inexpensive carpets.
Action taken
The company established factories in India, where labor costs were lower at the time.
Aftermath
The move formed part of OCM’s broader cost-control strategy, although the supplied sources do not quantify its financial effect.
Sources2 sources
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