persian rugs

There is some confusion over the word Persian as it refers to oriental rugs. The country known as Persia changed its name to Iran in the ۱۹۲۰s, but by that time the term Persian rug`had become something of a generic name for any hand-made pile rug from the Near East. Rugs from Iran are still often referred to as Persian, and in this book both terms will be used. Iran serves as a good example of the differences between city rugs and those made by villagers and nomads. While rugs were woven there for at least several millennia, apparently only fragments dating before ۱۵۰۰ survive, although this is a matter of controversy. Rugs _ are often extremely difficult to date, although three dated carpets from the Safavid dynasty (1500-1721) bear woven inscribed dates, including the pair of carpets found at the Shrine of Ardabil with a date of ۱۵۳۹/۴۰. The most complete of these carpets is currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, while another early Persian carpet, inscribed with the date most plausibly read as ۱۵۲۲/۲۳ is in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan. Other carpets surviving from the early Safavid period include three large silk carpets of an extremely fine weave, with two of them ranging around ۷۰۰ asymmetrical knots per square inch. These carpets. which include large examples in Vienna and Boston, are plausibly dated stylistically to the early sixteenth century and associated with the Safavid court of Shah Ismail or Shah Tahmasp.
While hundreds of carpets survive from the Safavid era, there is still controversy as to where many of them were made. Tabriz, the first Safavid capital, was almost certainly a source, while the subsequent capital in Isfahan is known to be a source. European travellers of the seventeenth century describe the exact location of
the carpet workshops, and there is documentation of carpet weaving in Kashan at about the same time Kerman was also a major source of carpets in a wide variety of designs, including a type characterised by realistically drawn blossoms in a lattice framework in which vases may be found. There is also good reason to believe that carpets were woven in Herat, which was part of the Persian Empire during Safavid times. After the Safavid collapse, there seems to have been a decline in rug production, although it certainly continued for local use. Safavid designs had became part of an enduring design lexicon that has lasted up to the present, with elaborate, stylised palmettes, scrolling vinework, complex medallions, and multiple lattice systems. Many of these same motifs resurfaced in the nineteenth century when the country began again to produce rugs in quantity to meet international demand.

PERSIAN CITY RUGS

Persian city rugs havea number of features incommon, including use of the asymmetrical knot on a cotton foundation in which the wefts usually cross twice between the rows of knots. They are finely woven, ranging from about ۱۱۰ to over ۶۰۰ knots per square inch, and their designs are ordinarily curvilinear and floral, with motifs adapted from rugs of the Safavid period. They are typically designed by specialists, with ool processed by professional dyers. Weaving today is carried out by young women and children, though in the Safavid period men were also employed. Most city rugs are double-warped which makes them rather inflexible (Figure 1). Basic designs of the Persian city rug are widely copied from China to the Balkans, India and Pakistan in particular have been borrowers of Persian designs.

 

Tabriz

Merchants from Tabriz took the lead in organising the  rug industry in Iran when it revived in the last half of  the nineteenth century, for Tabriz lies relatively close  to Istanbul, the major shipping point to Europe. As  demand from the West grew, these dealers first  organised a system by which old rugs from the  bazaars were channelled to Tabriz for subsequent  shipment abroad. When the supplies of old rugs  proved insufficient for the demand, these same  merchants were instrumental in other parts of Persia  in encouraging the expansion of local rug industries.
While there had been a low level of rug production in the Tabriz area, possibly extending centuries into the past, the new demand also brought about an expansion of the local industry which began to produce a type of rug that became recognisable throughout the western world. The Tabriz carpet  followed the tradition of using cotton for the warp and  weft, while the pile wool has a rather harsh feel. The  designs most frequently included medallions and  often showed adaptations of Safavid motifs (Figure 2).

 

These carpets differ from other Persian city carpets in being woven with the symmetrical knot

From the first decades of the revival, the  workshops in Tabriz have been adept at modelling  their carpets to meet western demands, changing the  colour schemes and designs  as needed to gain  market advantage. There are many grades of Tabriz  carpet including some of the finest and some of the  coarsest city types.
A group of silk rugs from the late nineteenth and  early twentieth centuries was woven in Tabriz, and  one occasionally sees examples at auction going for  steep prices. The designs were often borrowed, at  times from early Turkish prayer rugs.

 

Kashan and Qum

The cities of Kashan and Qum are often discussed  together, as their rugs share the typical structure of the  Persian city rug, and their designs are similar. While  weaving in Kashan is documented during Safavid  times, it is unclear whether there has been an  unbroken tradition. Kashan rugs from the last half of  the nineteenth century are known, usually in  medallion designs (Figure 3).

 

By the end of the  nineteenth century Kashan rugs were among the most  consistently finely knotted of all Persian rugs, and it was only half a  century later that the rugs of Isfahan and Nain came to exceed them in the number of knots  per square inch
Silk has long been produced in the Kashan area, and  number of early Kashans were all silk. A late a nineteenth/early twentieth century type  of Kashan was made with merino wool from Australia or New Zealand, spun in England, and these rugs are described as having ‘Manchester wool (Figure 4).

 

 

Later Kashans have a wool indistinguishable from  that of other Persian city rugs.
Medallion designs have remained common on  Kashan rugs, often on a red field with relatively small  lozenge-shaped medallions. Prayer rug designs are  also encountered, and occasionally one encounters a  pictorial Kashan. Kashans of the last several decades  often show a colour scheme based around ivory, blue,  and beige.
The industry in Qum has mirrored that of nearby  Kashan, although modern production appears to have  begun several decades later, and there was no tradition  of rug weaving there during Safavid times. Many of  the smaller pieces are  in prayer rug designs, while a  number of Qum silks appear in a so-called garden  design in which the field is divided into squarish  compartments, each with a variety of floral figures.
Both Kashan and Qum rugs range from about ۱۴۰  to over ۳۰۰ knots per square inch, with the silk pieces  often being finer. Both types enjoy high status in local  and western markets.

There are several towns near Kashan, most  prominently Aroon, that weave Kashan designs in a  slightly lower grade

 

Isfahan and Nain

While Isfahan was a producer of rugs for the Safavid  court in the seventeenth century, the art seems to have  died out there until it was revived in the first quarter  of the twentieth century. The Isfahan is among the  finer Persian city rugs, ranging between about ۲۵۰ to  above ۶۰۰ asymmetrical knots per square inch. Finely  woven rugs may have a silk foundation, and a number  of them have an inwoven signature of the master  weaver, often in a small patch of pile  weave at one  end, Silk Isfahans also often show hunting scenes  Medallions are common, often on a red field, although  there are also intricate repeating designs (Figure 5)

 

In many respects Isfahan represents the centre of  Safavid art, with many surviving mosques and several  palaces associated with the lavish  imperial court of  the seventeenth century. With such inspiration locally accessible, it is not surprising that these early designs have been particularly prominent on Isfahan rugs. A lower grade rug, resembling the Isfahan and also usually in medallion designs, is made in the town of Najafabad.
The rugs of Nain resemble those of Isfahan, although weaving may not have begun there until the ۱۹۴۰ s. Nains average an even higher knot count than Isfahans, and they frequently have the outlines of floral figures woven in ivory silk, giving additional highlights to the rug. Later Nains often have a colour scheme based around ivory, blue, and beige, with less red than the typical Isfahan (Figure 6).

Kerman

The Kerman rug has an unusual structure. There are three wefts between the TOWs of knots, with two of them pulled tightly to place the warps on two levels. Most rugs of the Safavid period from various parts of the country were woven in this manner, but, interestingly, the feature survives among asymmetric- ally knotted rugs only in Kerman.
The rugs of Kerman are noted for excellent wool, which makes for a bright white rather than the usual darker ivory. Red colours were long based on insect dyes, a characteristic shared only with the rugs of Mashhad and other cities of Khurasan. Kermans show an enormous variability in design, as designers are artisans of substantial status there. Foreign firms gained control of many Kerman looms late in the nineteenth entury, and most of the rugs were consequently directed toward western markets. particularly American. These included a number of rugs of unusual size, and when one finds an early twentieth century rug over 18 feet (5.5 metres) long it is likely to be a Kerman. Medallion designs have been most common with elaborate floral motifs covering the field (Figure 7).

 

 

The standard Kerman weave remained in the vicinity of about ۱۴۰ knots per square inch for decades, although there have always been finer pieces ranging to over ۳۰۰ knots per inch.
By the second quarter of the twentieth century these rugs seemed to lose something of their Persian character, as the pile was made longer and the designs simpler. As the mid-twentieth century approached, open fields with attenuated pastel colours and French style broken borders  became increasingly common. During the last several decades the Kerman rug has reverted to earlier traditions to appeal to the local Iranian market. The colours are brighter, and the designs follow those of  earlier rugs (Figures 8 and 9).

 

 

 

A number of pictorial Kermans are known, along  with pieces in prayer rug designs, usually with a central tree and at times with animal and bird figures.
All sizes are woven from small mats to giant rugs Several other cities in the vicinity of Kerman have long
produced a similar type of rug that is usually sold in the West under the Kerman label. The ancient city of Yazd,  on the edge of the Great Desert, has a long tradition of rug weaving. Its products resemble the Kerman, although regional output has not been so consistently directed  toward western markets. Mahan and Ravar also have  produced Kerman-type rugs, and at times the most finely  woven Kermans are given a Ravar label.

 

Mashhad, Birjand and Qain

Like the Kerman, which they often outwardly  resemble, these types have cooler reds from insect  dyes, although they have a structural peculiarity that  sets them apart. Here the jufti asymmetrical knot is  endemic, and the rugs, which are woven with a  particularly soft wool from the area, are less durable  than most other Persian city rugs. As the jufti involves  tying the asymmetrical knot over four warps rather  than two. the resulting fabric is less resistant to wear.  Medallion designs are particularly common, although  many nineteenth century examples show repeating  designs.
Rugs from Mashhad are also unusual in that the  region produces rugs with asymmetrical jufti knots  along with symmetrically knotted types. The latter  tradition probably began with Tabrizi merchants in the  late nineteenth century, when they established a
weaving industry in Mashhad modelled on that of  Tabriz. Rugs of both types may show the  designs, including many prayer rugs and pictorial  same  carpets (Figure 10).

Several workshops in Mashhad  became particularly well known during the first  quarter of the twentieth century, and -although their  output was limited  some of their rugs were  extremely finely woven with complex floral designs.
Rugs from the Birjand and Qain  areas are  consistently asymmetrically jufti knotted, tradition-  ally using red shades based around lac or cochineal,  and it is often difficult to tell recent examples apart  (Figure 11).

 

During the late nineteenth century,  however. each of these  areas, as well as the town of  Doruksh, produced a distinct type of rug. Floral  repeating designs were popular, but medallion designs  are now most common, often in standard room sizes.  Quality is variable from relatively coarse to extremely fine. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the  town of Mud, near Birjand. Here a medium grade  medallion rug has been produced in great numbers,  and these often appear in the West. Much less  common is a small group of extremely fine, well-  designed .Mud rugs

Arak

The area around Arak (formerly Sultanabad) has  woven something of a hybrid between the Persian city  rug and village rugs. Most of the production is from  surrounding towns and villages, and the rugs range  from fine to medium density, with the asymmetrical  knot on cotton foundations. They may show elaborate  curvilinear designs, although not usually involving  Safavid motifs  Many rugs from the last half of the nineteenth  century have survived, and many of these pieces fron  he Arak area show designs with rather stiff  medallions. These were usually labelled as Sarouks  although such pieces were woven in many places  other than the town of that name (Figure 38).

 

Another type of rug from the district was sold in the West  under the Ferahan label, and these typically had  repeating designs, often the herati. Most had a blue  ground colour and an appealing light green colour in  the border.
Early in the twentieth century, many rugs from this  area were made under the direction of foreign firms.  and the output was directed towards the West. These  pieces were carefully designed from traditional  Persian motifs, using colours suited to western  tastes, and avoiding the bright reds favoured in Iran.  The rugs were usually marketed under names  reflecting their grade rather than a specific town or  village of origin.
Sarouk was the name given to the highest grade,  whether the particular carpet was woven in the town  of that name or a number of other places that  produced the same kind of carpet. Unlike the turn-of-  the century Sarouk, with its rather stiff medallion  design of a type probably adapted from early Tabriz  carpets, the field was usually covered with detached  floral sprays, usually on a red ground. It was tightly  woven and ranged from about 100 to 200 knots per  square inch (Figures 13 and 14).

 

 

 

The Sarouk was  popular in the United States during the 1920 s and  ۱۹۳۰ s. Before they were sold, these rugs were often  bleached and the reds repainted with a maroon dye,  giving them a darker appearance. They are thus unusual in showing a darker red colour on the front  than on the back. One would expect the exact  opposite, as it is usually the front surface of the rug  that fades, but in these cases, the colour painted on  to the surface was usually darker than the original  red.  Mahal is usually used as a label for lower grades  from the Arak district. Most were woven under  controlled conditions and are of good quality.  although they  are not  finely knotted. Colours are usually excellent, with little abrash. They are based  around classic Persian patterns with elements created  specifically for western markets (Figure 15). At times  these rugs are sold under the Ziegler label, from a  major foreign-owned firm in Arak that controlled  many looms and was a major exporter to Europe.

 

 

IRANIAN TOWN AND VILLAGE RUGS

There is a group of rugs made in the countryside in Iran  by villagers who either raise sheep or purchase their wool from neighbouring nomadic groups. Their rugs resemble neither the city rugs nor are they like the rugs  woven by nomads. Examples from the nineteenth  century are usually woven on an all-wool foundation, as this was available from local production.Cotton has come into wider use in the last century, and the knotting may be either symmetrical or asymmetrical, most often the former, and the rugs are woven in a variety of  shapes and sizes. For the most part, however, the largest  room-sized rugs are woven in Iranian cities.
The Kurds in particular have produced a wide range  of village rugs, although the finest Kurdish rugs, from  the city of Senneh (now called Sanandaj) are  something of a hybrid between city and village  (Figure 16).

 

 

They may have extremely short pile, fine  weave, and cotton foundation with only one weft  shoot between the rows of knots. Although some of  the older rug books describe the asymmetrical knot as  a Senneh knot, the rugs from this city  are  symmetrically knotted. Designs of the Senneh include fine renditions of the herati and repeating boteh  figures. There are some medallion designs, which are  far less curvilinear than the standard Persian city rug.  The finest Sennehs may have silk warps, at times in  bands of different colours. It is likely that rugs were  woven in Senneh well before the late nineteenth  century expansion of rug weaving,as some examples  with early inscribed dates are known.
A group of villages around the Kurdish town of  Bijar weave an entirely different type of rug known for  its rigidity. These rugs often – but not always – have  three thick wefts between the rows of knots, with  alternate warps pushed into different levels making  them double-warped. The range of designs includes  the classic Persian herati, but there are also many  medallion rugs, some with bold arabesque leaf designs
(Figures 17 and 18).

 

Figure 17. This small Bijar rug is shaped to cover a saddle, and like other Kurdish rugs from this area is particularly thick. While the Senneh is, for the most part woven within the city, the Bijar is woven in several dozen nearby villages and in the city of Bijar. Consequently there is much more variation in the designs and textures of the rugs.

 

 

These rugs are extremely  durable and some are very large. A number of  sampler’ rugs are known from Bijar, where they were  apparently used as something analogous to pattern  books. In a small rug the entire design lexicon of a  larger rug could be represented, although these pieces  often lacked design symmetry.
Hundreds of other Kurdish villages in western Iran  also produce rugs of a more generic type, usually with  wool foundations with a rather loose weave. The  designs include those used by Senneh and Bijar, but  the variation is somewhat greater. Many rugs show a  repeat of simple geometric figures. A number of long  narrow rugs, called runners in the West, are made in  Kurdish villages. The wool of these rugs is ordinarily  of an excellent quality (Figure 19).

 

 

 

A group of Kurds that were transplanted to an  area in eastern Iran near the town of Quchan have  continued to weave rugs, although_ they have  evolved n different irections during the last  several centuries (Figure 20). Some Quchan  Kurd rugs are woven in designs adapted from the  Turkmen, and another group has taken on Baluchi  features, although the symmetrical knot has been  retained. Although they were separated from the  western Kurds in the seventeenth century, it is  interesting to see that some of the rugs still show  designs essentially identical to those of the  western Kurds

 

 

 

Hamadan

The Hamadan area has probably supplied more  rugs to the West during the last century than  any other part of Iran, although they  are
generally of rather coarse weave with generic  Persian patterns. They are not made within the  city of Hamadan itself, but in several hundred  villages in the surrounding area. These rugs  almost exclusively employ a structure that sets  them apart from most other symmetrically  knotted village rugs. They have only one weft  between the rows of knots, and this may easily  be seen from inspecting the back of the rug.  Only the Bakhtiari types of the Chahar Mahal  and a few rugs from the Heriz district have this  characteristic. Very early Hamadans may have  a wool foundation, but almost all examples  from the last century have cotton (Figure 21).

 

 

 

Although the designs are taken from the  standard Persian repertoire, with many pieces  woven in crude variants of the herati or mina  khani patterns, they show a wide range of variation on common motifs. A number of the  rugs show botehs of different sizes, while others  have repeating geometric figures. Most are in  small sizes or in a runner format, and only a few  places in the Hamadan district weave large rugs.  Two parts of the district weave a finer than  average grade than the typical Hamadan. The  Malayer area produces a rug that is fine enough  at times to be mistaken for a Senneh, which it  often resembles in design. The Jozan area produces a finer symmetrically knotted rug that often  resembles the earlier Sarouk in design, with which 1t  also shares the use of two weft between the rows of  knots. Jozan rugs are often more heavily abrashed  than the Sarouk (Figure 22),

 

The earliest generation of Hamadans to reach the  West often had a camel-coloured field, and many of  them were in a runner format. While these pieces are  often described as woven of camel hair, this is not the  case, as the wool has simply been dyed in a tan colour,  often with walnut husks or gall nuts

 

Heriz

Heriz is the centre of a cluster of towns and villages to  the east of Tabriz, where a popular type of medallion  rug is woven. It is thick, coarsely knotted, and has  been relatively inexpensive (Figure 23).

 

 

 

Few  surviving examples are found in anything but larger  sizes, from about x 10 and 9 x 12 feet (2.4 x 3 and  X  ۳  ۲.۷۵ x ۳.۶۵ metres) up to much larger examples  While Hamadan supplied scatter sizes in the early  twentieth century, the Heriz area was the major  supplier of relatively inexpensive room-sized carpets.

Those with natural dyes that have survived in good  condition, however, have become extremely expensive  although reproductions of Heriz rugs with natural  dyes have recently become common.
The rugs are symmetrically knotted and labelled not  so much by place of origin, but by grade, although the  grades are based upon village names. For the last  century the finest grade has been described  as a
Serapi, often with designs verging on the curvilinear.  Finely woven rugs, now described as Ahar, are also  somewhat curvilinear and may show an unusual
feature in which many of the stylised floral figures  may be outlined in two colours rather than the usual  single outline. The term Gorevan was formerly used  for the lower grades, but it is less used now, and many  are labelled simply as Heriz.
While most of the rugs have medallion designs,  perhaps 10 per cent have overall designs of large  stylised floral and leaf forms. For some reason the  classic herati and boteh designs so common from  other parts of Iran were seldom used in this area.  Most of the rugs have two wefts between the rows of knots, but several villages use only one weft  between the rows, including the town of Karadja,  which is known for long narrow rugs. These rugs are  generally attractive and durable. Colours early in the  century were excellent, but later periods featured less  attractive synthetic colours.
The town of Sarab in the southern part of the Heriz  district is known for its long rugs with a limited range  of designs on a camel-coloured field,
A group of silk rugs from the late nineteenth century  are often given the label of Heriz, although most may  have been woven within Tabriz (Figure 24)

 

 

The Chahar Mahal

A group of villages in the Zagros foothills just west of  Isfahan comprises a weaving area whose rugs are  often labelled as Bakhtiari, although many weavers  are Kurdish villagers. The rugs resemble the  Hamadan in structure, with the use of only one weft  between the rows of knots, but generally have darker  colours, with more brown and dark green. Many  examples are found with squarish or lozenge-shaped  compartments within which are found stylised floral  figures (Figure 25).

 

 

 These rugs are thick and come in  a wide range of sizes. The Bakhtiari also weave gabbeh rugs, a thick, coarse, symmetrically knotted  fabric with simple geometric designs, and a wide  variety of nomadic trappings (Figure 26).  Recent Bakhtiari rugs have a cotton foundation,  although there are surviving examples from an earlier  generation woven on wool warps and wefts.

 

 

Other towns of note

The town of Joshaqan, south of Kashan, has a long  tradition of making carpets. The rugs are of medium  grade, asymmetrically knotted on a cotton foundation,  and are characterised by designs with stylised floral  sprays configured in a lozenge shape, at times with a  small medallion. There has been little change in the  traditional designs for over a century (Figure 53).  Several other nearby towns have taken to weaving  the classic design, some in a tighter weave,  Occasionally one will find a rug in a Bakhtiari weave  and a Joshaqan design

 

 

Liliyan

Although the Liliyan rug is woven in a number of  villages, it resembles city rugs from the Arak region.  During the mid-twentieth century rugs for the  American market were woven here, often with dark  maroon field colours and a design of detached floral  sprays similar to the contemporary Sarouk The  structure is distinctive in that the rugs are made with  asymmetrical knots, but there is usually only one weft  between the rows of knots. Most single wefted rugs  are symmetrically knotted.

 

RUGS OF THE IRANIAN NOMADS

While the Iranian government, for much of the  twentieth century, attempted to settle its population of  nomads, there are a number of tribes still practising at  least partial nomadism. This involves part of the tribe  migrating to progressively higher ground in the spring  and summer to find fresh pasturage for their flocks, and  then returning to the lowlands for the cold season. Parts  of each tribe remain sedentary, growing cereal crops  for survival over the winter. Eventually this way of life will probably become extinct, as migrating nomads  have always been problematic for governments.  Nomads have been difficult to control, and their  lifestyle has led to a certain independence from central  authority. It also has led to rugs with a different visual  flavour from those of the Persian villagers, and  consequently nomadic rugs have held a special appeal  for the collector.  The large city of Shiraz in southern Iran is not a  significant producer of rugs, but there are many  weavers among the nomadic and village populations  of the surrounding areas. In addition to the villagers,  who are mostly of indigenous Iranian stock, there are  two major tribal groups with their own leadership  structures: the Qashqa’i and the Khamseh Federation.  Year after year these groups have moved their  flocks from the lowlands to higher ground as the  summer progresses, and these moves have developed  a certain complexity in which the same transit areas are often occupied by different tribes at different  stages in their migrations. Then as the weather cools,  and the tribes move toward their winter quarters, the  same pattern of movement takes place. Over the  centuries alliances and enmities have developed  between the different tribal groups, and no doubt at  times in the past there has been open conflict.

The Qashqa’i

The Qashqa’i, a grouping mostly of Turkic origin, and  the dominant tribe of the region, is made up of a  number of subtribes including the Qashguli, Bulli,  Darashuri, Kuhi, and others. There are theories that  the first of these Turkic people entered the Fars region  in the thirteenth century, having been forced south by  the arrival of Mongol armies in Azerbaijan. At times  the Qashqa’i have represented a powerful force within  Persia, as a migrating tribe is organised along military  lines, with all men essentially able to function as  warriors. There has also always been a certain friction,.  and interdependence, between the migratory and  settled populations
The Qashqa’i weave two types of rugs. Probably  the most ancient tradition is the gabbeh rug. These  have probably been woven for local use for centuries,  and until recently have been ignored by collectors  The rugs most frequently woven for the market are  all of wool, asymmetrically knotted and are based  primarily upon traditional Persian designs, with  frequent use of the herati pattern, at times with a small  medallion. The repeating boteh also occurs on many  Qashqa’i rugs, and adaptations of the Moghul mille  fleurs design in a prayer rug format are also woven  but these are ordinarily made in the workshops of  settled tribespeople around the town of Firuzabad  rather than by nomads.

Qashqa’i rugs often show a variety of ornaments  arranged with less formality than one would find on a  Persian city rug, and they carry about them a liveliness  often lacking in the typical village rug. Many nomadic  rug enthusiasts see these pieces as adhering more to  earlier and non-commercial traditions than the rugs of  settled people, and yet that may be an exaggeration.  The degree to which these rugs predate the expansion  of the Persian rug industry in the late nineteenth  century is still not clear, although a few have inwoven  dates suggesting a mid-century origin. This brings up the question of whether the original Qashqa’i products  are the gabbehs and kilims, while the asymmetrically  knotted rugs in non-tribal designs may represent a  later commercial production.
The best of these rugs are powerfully coloured and  boldly designed, often showing additional simple  geometric border stripes at both ends (Figures 28  and 29).

 

 

 

 

 

There has never been a large supply of the  higher grade Qashqa’i rugs, and the best are avidly  sought by collectors.
A number of trappings associated with nomadic life are also made by the Qashqa’i, including many kilims,  horse covers, and a number of bags. Qashqa’i kilims  in particular are woven in vivid colours that resemble  more the gabbehs than the other Qashqa’i pile weaves  (Figure 30)

 

 

The Khamseh Federation

This s  grouping of tribes of diverse origins,  including Arabs, native Iranian tribes such as the Lors,  and Turkic groups not allied with the Qashqa’i. The  Arab tribe includes a number  of Arabic speaking  peoples, some of whom claim to have migrated into  Iran from the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the  Islamic conquest in the seventh century. Turkic  elements are found among the Baharlu and Ainalu,  while a number of tribes have members of Lor descent.  Not surprisingly rugs of these peoples cover a range of  types, although they are often difficult to distinguish from each other and at times may resemble Qashqa’i  rugs. One characteristic is that Khamseh rugs are more  likely to show dark wool warps, while warps of  Qashqa’i rugs are more commonly ivory. Khamseh  rugs are also not so likely to be double-warped and are  generally looser in construction.

 Earlier pieces may show great charm and excellent  colours, although the colour scheme is often slightly  more subdued than that found on  Qashqa’i rugs. One  often encounters a design in which stylised bird figures  are repeated in different colours throughout the field  (Figure 31).

 

 

There  are some examples with three or  more simple, lozenge-shaped medallions along the  vertical axis (Figure 32). The rugs are variable in size,  but seldom exceed about 6  x 12 feet (1.82 x 3.65  metres). Prayer rug designs are rare, but there are a few  Pictorial ugs. Often one finds repeating geometric  figures with relatively narrow borders.

 

 

 

Some rugs are identifiable as products of various Lori  tribes. some of whom are affiliated with the Khamseh  (Figure 33).

There are also some particularly colourful  Lori gabbeh rugs which are difficult to distinguish from  those of the Qashga’i (Figure 34).

 

 

 

 

 

The Khamseh Federation does not have the  same  kinds of historic traditions as the Qashqa’i, as 1t was  formed only in the nineteenth century. Primarily it  was assembled by external political forces attempting  to form something of a counterweight to the powerful  Qashqa’i. As the Khamseh Federation is made up of  disparate elements, it has not maintained the same  political clout as the Qashqa’i, and it appears to be  diminishing in importance

Gabbeh rugs from the Shiraz area

In the late ۱۹۸۰s the Shiraz area was the centre of the  natural dyeing revival that has had a great impact on  the entire rug industry within Iran. As natural dyeing  had essentially completely disappeared from Iran, it  took several enterprising dyers to began experi-  menting with such materials as madder, natural  indigo, and yellow dyes from native plants. For  reasons not entirely clear, many of the earliest rugs  from this project were gabbehs with a relatively  coarse weave and bold, simple designs
When these appeared at a major trade fair in Tehran  in ۱۹۹۲, the results left a deep impact on many of the  dealers in attendance, but there were still some needed adjustments. The reds seemed a little too sombre, and  the yellows appeared to be the wrong quality. Within  several years, however, the necessary adjustments had  been made, and the naturally dyed gabbeh became e  great commercial success. The gabbeh was originally  associated with the nomadic way of life while the  new production i 1S clearly aq commercial enterprise. As  these gabbeh do not represent tribal rugs, the new  production  cannot be identified as either Qashqa’i or  Khamseh, and has become more of  regional  a  enterprise It has also been widely copied abroad, and  one now finds Shiraz-type gabbeh rugs from Pakistan  and India.

 

The Afshar

  While village and nomadic rugs from rural parts of the  province of Kerman are often described as products of  the Afshar, there are a number of peoples living in this
area, although weavings of specific groups are extremely  difficult to distinguish. Those with symmetrical knots are  said to have been woven by nomads of Turkic origin,  while asymmetrically knotted rugs are attributed to  villagers of Iranian descent, although no doubt there are  exceptions. The rugs are usually small, although there are  a small number of nineteenth century pieces made in  adaptations of city designs.
The old ugs are all wool, while more recent  examples have a cotton foundation. Some pieces have  long flatwoven bands at both ends, as one finds on  some Turkmen rugs. Many of the designs show  stylised versions of city designs, with stiff medallions  or botehs (Figures 35 and 36).

 

 

 

 

Some show repeating  geometric figures. Field colour is often of blue, and  many of the rugs show as much blue as red. A large  number of bags are found from this area, as are  flatweaves in a variety of structures

The Baluchi

The Baluchi live in eastern Iran, adjoining parts of  western Afghanistan, as well as parts of Pakistan.  They speak an Indo-Iranian language, and ordinarily  inhabit the poorest parts of the three countries, living  on their flocks of sheep and with probably a smaller  settled component than either the nomads of the  Shiraz or Kerman areas.

Baluchi rugs are the darkest group of Near Eastern  pileweaves. They are asymmetrically knotted on a  wool foundation and, except for a group of Baluchi  rugs from north-western Afghanistan, are usually  small. Rugs of the nomadic Baluchi usually show  three or four bundle selvage of dark goat hair on the a sides and kilim ends that may be decorated with rows  of weft float or other flatweave technique.

There are many Baluchi saddlebags, often larger  than most found elsewhere, and the designs may  consist of repeated geometric figures or stiffly-drawn  bird figures. At some point there is usually a figure in  ivory which stands out from darker colours (Figure  ۳۷).

 

 

Pieces with prayer rug designs  are common,  usually with a squared mihrab and often showing a  tree-of-life design or repeated geometric figures  Baluchi rugs woven in and around the Iranian towns  of Turbat-i-Heydari and Turbat-i-Jam are finer than  most-others, and often show renditions of the herati or  mina khani design (Figures 38 and 39).

 

 

 

 

 

Until the last part of the twentieth century Baluchi  rugs were among the least expensive hand-knotted  floor coverings, and they were often regarded as  beneath the notice of the serious collector. This has  dramatically changed, as a number of serious  collections based on Baluchi rugs have been formed,  and a wide literature on the type has accumulated  What was formerly seen as small, sombre, loosely  woven rugs, are now taken seriously, backed up as  they are with a careful analysis of designs and  iconography.

The Shahsevan and rugs of the Veramin area

The Shahsevan are a nomadic and semi-nomadic  group scattered about eastern Azerbaijan, with some  migrating as far south as the Hamadan Plain in winter.  In the summer their pasturage is farther north, mostly  on the Savalan Massif east  of Tabriz. Their best  known woven products are attractive bags in a fine  soumak structure, although one may find less  distinguished pile rugs in north Persian bazaars that are described as Shahsevan work. From time to time  finely woven kilims are attributed to the Shahsevan.  although the label at times seems to be assigned  without hard information on origin

While there are some city-type rugs woven in Veramin, usually in the mina khani design, rugs with this label are often woven by nomadic groups who winter in the area around the city because of its relatively mild weather. These tribes include some Shahsevan, Lori, Kurds, and other groups, whose woven products includes a number of bags, animal trappings, and a type of kilim in ‘ eye dazzler’ designs, with a vivid interaction of strong colours (Figure 40). At_times the Veramin label seems to be loosely applied to small tribal pieces which cannot be more specifically identified.

 

 

 

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Reference

ANTIQE ORIENTAL RUGS/ Murray Lee Eiland III