A Persian carpet looks like a surface of pattern, but it is made one knot at a time. A weaver ties short lengths of wool or silk yarn around pairs of vertical threads, called the warp, then packs each row down with a comb before passing a horizontal thread, the weft, through. When the pile is clipped, the pattern appears.
Two knots, many hands
The two knots, usually described as symmetrical and asymmetrical, differ in how the yarn is wrapped, and each makes a slightly different line. The finer the weaving, the more knots per square centimetre, and the more detail the design can have. Fine town workshops often used a cartoon, a drawn plan, while village and nomad weavers worked from memory, repeating family patterns and adding their own variations.
Places and styles
Carpets are often described by their place of origin, which is shorthand for a style.
Tabriz has a long history of workshop weaving and produces many designs. Kashan and Isfahan are known for fine work with dense, curving patterns. Kerman and Nain have their own palettes and details. Qom is known for silk carpets. Beyond the towns, nomadic and village weavers such as the Qashqai, Bakhtiari and Baluch make rugs with bolder geometry and strong colour.
Attributing a carpet to a place is often a matter of judgement. Designs travelled between regions, workshops copied each other, and later names are sometimes commercial labels rather than precise origins.
A famous pair
The Ardabil carpet is a masterpiece of Safavid weaving. Its inscription gives a date equivalent to 1539–40, and it was made for the shrine of Shaykh Safi in Ardabil. One large carpet is in London and a related one is in Los Angeles. Museum catalogues discuss how the second was assembled from parts, a reminder that carpets are objects with histories of repair and change.
Looking
Turn the carpet over and look at the back, where the knots are clearer. Look at the colours: natural dyes such as madder (red), indigo (blue) and walnut or pomegranate (browns and yellows) were used for centuries before synthetic dyes arrived. Watch for small irregularities, which can show the hand of a weaver.
Craft today
Carpet weaving remains a source of work in many regions and is recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible cultural heritage of Fars and Kashan. When buying a carpet, ask about the weaver, the materials and the origin, and be wary of strong claims.
Notes and sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, entry 'Carpets' (iranicaonline.org). Exact entry title and author to be added after the entry is opened.
- Museum catalogue entries for the Ardabil carpet (Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art): cite the museum records when checked.
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