How Were The Persian Rugs Made?

The construction of handmade Persian rugs varies depending on the city, region or village where they were woven. The “traditional” Persian carpet is tied with a single looping knot, known as Persian or Senneh knot. The vertical strand of thread in a Persian carpet has one loop. This use of a single knot is essential in establishing the identity of the place where the rug was made and can sometimes help in identifying the artisans who made it.

When comparing rugs, the way to identify the knot used is to splay open the pile by bending the rug against itself and looking at the base of the knot.

Are the Persian rug designs unique to any specific region?

The design of a rug can be misleading. A few rugs may feature a “Persian design” but were woven elsewhere. An example of this convention would be Indo-Persian rugs. These rugs were woven in India with Persian design and construction elements. Surprisingly enough, in spite of the tribal wars, migrations, commercial influence and rebellions - the techniques of construction used by different cultures has changed very little in the fullness of time.

A lot of the older Persian rugs from Tabriz have a central medallion, quartered corner medallions appearing over a field of scrolling vine ornaments, accented with single animals or birds, animal combat scenes and mounted hunters. Carpet grounds were red, blue and sometimes white but colors tended to be muted, partly for the reason that the sheep in the Northwest have coarse wool but mainly due to the salt quality of the water used in the dyeing process. Patterns of traditional Persian rugs are recognizable to the trained eye and have existed for several generations.

When did the production of Persian rugs & carpets started?

Amongst the rug producing regions of the Middle East, none is a varied and extensive in its output as Persia. It is possible that fragments of 9^th century pile carpets discovered at Fostat near Cairo were imported from what is today the country of Iran. There is proof that carpet weaving in Iran actually started during the Mongol or Ilkhanid period c. 1300, as well as for the subsequent Timurid period up through the late 15^th century.

Major centers of production tool place (and some still are) in the cities of Tabriz, Kerman, and Isfahan. That said, there is no firm historical documentation for attributing carpets to the last site during the early years of rug production. However, the “golden area” of Persian carpet weaving actually started after 1500 with the foundation of the Safavid dynasty by Shah Ismail. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, Persia produced a lot of the great masterpiece rugs that are still in existence today.

During these periods large Persian rugs were exported all over the world, from Japan to Western Europe. It is perhaps as significant that the lavish rugs captured, as booty, from the Ottoman Turks, after the Battle of Vienne in 1683, consisted primarily of Persian rugs.

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