The Bakhtiari rug, along with other weavings, is a major artform of the Bakhtiari tribe, located in Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, Iran. [1] [2] Since the early 19th century, Bakhtiari rugs have been exported around the world.
The Bakhtiari rug, along with other weavings, is a major artform of the Bakhtiari tribe, located in Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, Iran. [1] [2] Since the early 19th century, Bakhtiari rugs have been exported around the world.
While originally woven by nomadic Bakhtiari, [3] most authentic Bakhtiari rugs are woven in Bakhtiari settled communities in west central Iran southwest of Isfahan in Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, as well as parts of the provinces of Isfahan, Lorestan, and eastern Khuzestan, most notably in the town of Shahr-Kurd. [4] Bakhtiari rugs were also known after their place of origin, such as Saman or Hureh (Hori). [4] However, Bakhtiari patterns are copied in other weaving centers in Iran, Pakistan, India and China; the location-based name often refers to the place of origin of the pattern and the quality of the rug, rather than to its place of actual manufacture. Saman and Hori are now regarded as grades of Bakhtiari rugs, rather than as geographical terms.
Bakhtiari carpets are based on a cotton foundation (warp) with a wool weft [5] usually taken from the herds of the producing tribe. This leads to unique carpets that differ depending on the characteristics of each tribe's wool. The wool can range from dull to extreme glossy and the resultant pile is clipped medium to high. The best carpets with the highest knot density are often known as Bibibaff. [6] [lower-alpha 1] Prices range considerably with the highest knot density rugs generally being the most expensive, but price is also affected by criteria such as the pattern and the dyes used. Chapel Shotur and Saman pieces are rated slightly beneath Bibibaff productions, but are still considered to be good to excellent. Hori carpets are of looser weave and inferior quality and as such, are generally widely affordable.
The sizes vary from narrow hall carpets to large room designs, often up to 4 m × 5 m. The larger rugs tend to be very rare and harder to come by. Similarly, older rugs, often coveted by collectors, can be extremely costly.
Patterns are usually floral or garden inspired. The Khesti, an established garden motif, is perhaps the most well-known rug design. The carpet is divided into individual squares with animals and plants acting as symbols. Another influential design features a decorated field with lattice designs and floral ornaments.
The use of colors varies depending on styles of certain tribes. Generally they include shades of white, reds, browns, greens, and yellows. Blue does not appear to feature.[ citation needed ] Natural dyes produce variations in color, which are particularly obvious on older Bibibaffs.
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have often been used, as these fibers are less expensive than wool. The pile usually consists of twisted tufts that are typically heat-treated to maintain their structure. The term carpet is often used in a similar context to the term rug, but rugs are typically considered to be smaller than a room and not attached to the floor.
A Persian carpet or Persian rug, also known as Iranian carpet, is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in Iran, for home use, local sale, and export. Carpet weaving is an essential part of Persian culture and Iranian art. Within the group of Oriental rugs produced by the countries of the "rug belt", the Persian carpet stands out by the variety and elaborateness of its manifold designs.
A kilim is a flat tapestry-woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran, the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative or can function as prayer rugs. Modern kilims are popular floor coverings in Western households.
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The Iranian city of Isfahan has long been one of the centres for production of the famous Persian carpet. Isfahani carpets are renowned for their high quality. The most famous workshop in Isfahan is Seirafian. In Europe, they became incorrectly known as Polish rugs because of the trade route from Persia to France running through Poland.
Uşak carpets, Ushak carpets or Oushak Carpets are Turkish carpets that use a particular family of designs, called by convention after the city of Uşak, Turkey – one of the larger towns in Western Anatolia, which was a major center of rug production from the early days of the Ottoman Empire, into the early 20th century.
A Tabriz rug or carpet is a type in the general category of Persian carpets from the city of Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province in northwest of Iran. It is one of the oldest rug weaving centers and makes a huge diversity of types of carpets. The range starts at Bazaar quality of 24 raj and on up to the incredibly fine 110 raj. Raj is the unit of knot density. It shows the rigidity of the rug which based on the number of strings used for the foundation of the rug. Strings materials are usually made of cotton or silk which is used for very fine rugs.
An oriental rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in "Oriental countries" for home use, local sale, and export.
A khorjin is a type of decorative carpet bag made across Greater Iran and Central Asia.
Bergama Carpet refers to handwoven Turkish carpets, made in the Bergama district in the Izmir Province of northwest Turkey. As a market place for the surrounding villages, the name of Bergama is used as a trade name to define the provenience.
Anatolian rug or Turkish carpet is a term of convenience, commonly used today to denote rugs and carpets woven in Anatolia and its adjacent regions. Geographically, its area of production can be compared to the territories which were historically dominated by the Ottoman Empire. It denotes a knotted, pile-woven floor or wall covering which is produced for home use, local sale, and export, and religious purpose. Together with the flat-woven kilim, Anatolian rugs represent an essential part of the regional culture, which is officially understood as the Culture of Turkey today, and derives from the ethnic, religious and cultural pluralism of one of the most ancient centres of human civilisation.
Berber carpets are carpets hand-woven by the Berber people in North Africa and the Sahara. The carpets come in traditional and modern designs, which are distinguished by different knotting patterns, dyes and fabric textures.
Ryijy is a woven Finnish long-tufted tapestry or knotted-pile carpet hanging.
A Turkmen rug is a type of handmade floor-covering textile traditionally originating in Central Asia. It is useful to distinguish between the original Turkmen tribal rugs and the rugs produced in large numbers for export mainly in Pakistan and Iran today. The original Turkmen rugs were produced by the Turkmen tribes who are the main ethnic group in Turkmenistan and are also found in Afghanistan and Iran. They are used for various purposes, including tent rugs, door hangings and bags of various sizes.
A Pakistani rug, also known as Pakistani carpet, is a type of handmade floor-covering heavy textile traditionally made in Pakistan and is used for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes. Rug/carpet weaving is an essential part of Pakistani culture and Pakistani art.
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Kerman carpets are one of the traditional classifications of Persian carpets. Kerman is both a city and a province located in south central Iran. The term also sometimes describes a type which may have been made elsewhere. Typical manufacturing techniques use an asymmetrical knot on cotton foundation, but less frequent examples incorporate silk or part silk piles, or silk foundations with wool pile.
Moroccan rugs are the weaves, carpets, and textiles that have been traditionally hand-woven in Morocco. Rugs have been woven by the indigenous people of Morocco since the Paleolithic Era. Traditionally, Moroccan rugs have been woven by tribal peoples for their utility rather than for decorative purposes. Twentieth-century Moroccan rugs are widely collected in the West, and are almost always woven by tribes people who do not seek nor possess formal artistic training.
DOBAG is the Turkish acronym for "Doğal Boya Araştırma ve Geliştirme Projesi". The project aims at reviving the traditional Turkish art and craft of carpet weaving. It provides inhabitants of a rural village in Anatolia – mostly female – with a regular source of income. The DOBAG initiative marks the return of the traditional rug production by using hand-spun wool dyed with natural colours, which was subsequently adopted in other rug-producing countries.
The Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (OCM) was a London-based company involved in the production of, and trade with, Oriental carpets. Established in 1907/8 in Istanbul, the company set up and controlled their own carpet manufactures in the central Anatolian region around the town of Konya, and from 1911 onwards, in the Hamadan Province in northwestern Iran. In 1983 it was sold, and merged with one of its former affiliates, the Eastern Kayam Company. From 1924 until 1948, OCM was led by Arthur Cecil Edwards, who, after retiring, wrote a text book on Persian Carpets, which is still in print today.