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The most desired carpets in the world are definitely
Persian (Iranian) rugs.
Initially they were simply necessities for the homes of the
nomads to protect them from the harsh, cold conditions.
Through their bright colors and magical designs, these floor
coverings were more than simply warmth and comfort. They were
also a form of literary expression, bringing happiness and
enchantment to their dull tent homes.
Gradually, the beauty of carpets found
new owners: kings and noblemen looking for symbols of
wealth to adorn their fine palaces.
To look at a Persian
rug is to glance into a world of artistic excellence
nurtured over more than 2500 years. The Persians were
among the first carpet weavers of the ancient civilizations
and through centuries of creativity and ingenuity, achieved
a reputation around the world for their craftsmanship.
To make a carpet in the early days required tremendous perseverance.
Even with a few weavers working together, it took months
or even years to construct a single rug. When it came time
for the tribe to migrate to another area, the entire loom
was dismantled and the rug folded and put away. When springtime
arrived, the loom would be set up again and the tribesmen
and women would continue the weaving process.
Today, with Iranians being increasingly swallowed up in an
urban, industrial society, their love of the carpet is as
strong as ever. To them it's a symbol of pride, because a
home is bare and soulless without one.
And to this day, Iran produces more carpets than all other
rug producing nations combined.
Designs of Persian
Rugs
The best thing about hand-crafted Persian rugs is that, unlike
machine-produced rugs, they're all unique. No two are the
alike because no two handmade rugs can be identical.
Each is beautiful in its own way, with its own patterns and
designs. However, most Persian rugs can be placed in broad
categories based on similarities of layout.
The three broadest categories we can place all Persian designs
into are: Geometric designs; curvilinear and floral designs;
and pictorial designs. Plus, each group has many different
styles, and sometimes one carpet can incorporate more than
one design.
Geometric Designs
All the carpets in this group are decorated with repeated
linear elements of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines,
usually woven by nomadic tribes using particular traditional
and cultural symbols. Most of the elements are symbols of
something special or sacred, cherished by that tribe for hundreds
of generations.
Because they're made by hand in the most primal conditions,
tribal pieces usually don't have full symmetry or color consistency,
thus giving them a 'primal' quality.
Some cities and villages that weave beautiful geometric rugs
include Heriz, Hamadan, and Shiraz.
Curvilinear and Floral Designs
Most elements in Persian rugs have great meaning and reflect
their close affinity with nature. That's why nature in some
form whether in small plants and flowers or delicate animals
can be seen in almost all carpets.
In most Persian rugs, the most common motif is the central
medallion, and even though two may look similar, no two medallions
are completely identical. Some experts believe that the medallion
design stems from the spiritual nature of the weavers and
that their inspiration probably came from the domes of the
Mosques.
When discussing fine Persian rug patterns, it helps to be
familiar with the Safavid Dynasty in Iran, especially the
era when the Great Shah Abbas was king. He is the one that
springs to mind as the inspiration for various patterns, all
of which feature the lily in an isolated central position
linked only by delicate tendrils.
Often, you will see a rug classified as a Shah Abbasi design.
Shah Abbas was responsible for a large portion of the Persian
rug industry by setting up royal rug factories all over Iran
and making Isfahan the country's capital.
Today, a Shah Abbasi is among the finest Persian rugs available.
The Herati pattern -- a central diamond shaped figure forming
the medallion while also a border to another similar medallion,
which is another border to another inner medallion -- is found
in rugs from around Iran, although almost all rug producing
countries have made this design at one time or the other.
It is probably one of the most famous designs, deriving from
the town of Herat, now in Afghanistan but once part of the
Persian Empire.
Pictorial Designs
Perhaps the rarest of Persian rug styles is the pictorial
design.
This type of pattern doesn't follow a standard outline and
each rug is unique in its details.
The weaving of a pictorial rug demands much more skill from
the weaver. They must be great artists because unlike curves,
circles, or repetitive floral elements, it is more difficult
to weave details and smaller elements that require great accuracy.
This style of weaving was initiated in Iran several hundred
years ago when artists and poets wanted to express themselves
by means other than paper.
It is important to understand how proud the Persians were
of their history and culture. Seeing how weaving has always
been a big part of the artistic expression of Persian culture,
the two were combined to preserve a moment of their history
in a beautiful rug.
The Iran Carpet Company, a specialist in the subject, has
attempted to classify Persian carpet designs and has carried
out studies of thousands of rugs. Their results show that
there have been slight alterations and improvements to almost
all original designs.
In its classification the company has called the original
designs as the 'main pattern' and the derivatives as the 'sub
patterns'. They have identified 19 groups, including: historic
monuments and Islamic buildings, Shah Abbassi patterns, spiral
patterns, all-over patterns, derivative patterns, interconnected
patterns, paisley patterns, tree patterns, Turkoman patterns,
hunting ground patterns, panel patterns, European flower patterns,
vase patterns, intertwined fish patterns, Mehrab patterns,
striped patterns, geometric patterns, tribal patterns, and
composites.
Quality
Persian rugs are categorized by quality first and design
second. Quality refers mainly to the knotting of the rug plain
and simple: the higher the knot count, the higher the quality.
Other factors that contribute to the grading of rugs are the
quality of the wool or silk, the dyes used, and the symmetry
and accuracy throughout the design.
You may come across coarse Persian rugs that aren't perfectly
square or contain a main color that varies in tone from one
end of the rug the other. These imperfections, however, are
what give these rugs their character and authenticity. A machine
made rugs may be perfectly square, but the quality of these
mass-produced rugs is otherwise inferior to handmade rugs
in every aspect.
Surprisingly, a fine Persian rug will almost always include
intentional imperfections. In fact, there's an old Persian
proverb that says, "A Persian Rug is Perfectly Imperfect,
and Precisely Imprecise". This notion of intentionally
including slight and minor irregularities is derived from
the religious belief that God is the only perfect being and
that attempting absolute perfection would be claiming the
position of the Almighty.
Size
The most popular sizes for Persian rugs are seven by ten
feet, eight by twelve feet, and ten by thirteen feet. These
standard sizes each have names in Iran, and most regions will
usually produce only one size. In larger centers, however,
you can find rugs of non-standard dimensions ranging from
a small two by three foot mat to carpets as large as a city
block.
You can also find runners for hallways and corridors ranging
from five to thirty feet long, and some cities even produce
round or oval carpets.
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