Cowhide Rugs

Cowhide rugs can refer to two different types of cowhide floorcoverings.

Reference made to a cowhide rug usually mean one of two things:

In the one instance, it is the cowhide itself, called a pranced cowhide, which has literally a shape resembling the cow.

The other type is one made from cowhide, but stitched together, with or without a canvas or other material backing.

The "pranced" cowhide is literally the shape of the cow, as it is skinned off the cow. The edges are rounded off, but there is a distinct outline of a cow in a spread out position. Hence the name pranced. See the cowhide section for an explanation of the different sizes and styles of pranced cowhides (click here to be redirected). Generally the better quality cowhides are those from Argentina, Brazil and Italy. There are pranced cowhides available from India but these are not generally as good quality as the others, but are usually substantially cheaper. Bear in mind though that you usually get the quality that you pay for.

The cowhide rugs stitched together are usually referred to as cowhide patch rugs. There is a large variety of styles, qualities and manufacturing methods for these types of rugs. Briefly, these are most usually made in India using Indian cowhides as they are cheaper, although some higher end products are manufactured in Argentina, Brazil or Italy using premium quality cowhides. The patch rugs are usually made from cowhides which have imperfections in places that do not allow them to be sold as pranced rugs, so they are cut up into pieces. Please click here to read much more on pranced rugs and the different qualities.