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1. Tabriz Carpet

Tabriz, located in northwestern Iran and along the silk road, has been one of Iran’s most populous cities for centuries and regarded as the capital of Persian carpet by many people. The art of carpet-weaving in Tabriz has evolved throughout history, but since the Safavid dynasty, the main elements of Tabriz carpet haven’t changed much.

Going back in time, in ancient Persia, carpets weren’t only used as a piece of furniture. they also told stories. Weavers would decorate the carpets with images of wild animals, Iran’s native flowers, etc. in order to represent their daily lives; just like painting a picture! But after numerous wars, such as the Mongolian invasion, these glorious and exaggerating carpet decorations became less popular and weavers preferred to make them more simple.

But during the Safavid dynasty, and later the Qajar dynasty, Tabrizi weavers tried to go back to their ancient roots. Famous artists would even make carpets with the portrait of a king or a prince on them.

Not surprisingly, Tabriz carpets are very expensive and they were always considered luxurious. Nowadays, if you go to a random carpet store and you see a carpet labelled as “Tabriz carpet”, you should be a little careful. Because original Tabriz carpets are rare and expensive and you would need a professional to help you find one. These carpets are also often large-sized.

2. Kerman Carpet

Far from Tabriz, Kerman is located in south-central Iran. Some parts of the province are mountainous and some parts are desert. Its landscape is not as colourful as the regions around Tabriz. Instead of depicting a realistic image of nature on the carpets, weavers use elegantly detailed patterns and motifs inspired by traditional Persian gardens.

In this style of carpet, the main focus is on expressing the Kermani sense of elegance and sophistication rather than narrating a part of the region’s history.

3. Isfahan Carpet (+ Qom Rugs)

Isfahan, located in central Iran, used to be the heart of arts and architecture during the reign of Safavid dynasty and even today, it’s still considered to be one of the best places for people who want to study Iranian arts.

From the 16th century until mid-19th century, artists from different countries of the world would come to this city and this caused a variety of inspirations to be used for carpet decorations; one of the reasons that leads to the controversy that whether Isfahan or Tabriz should be called the capital of Persian carpet.

Among Isfahan carpets, you can find various ideas; natural elements similar to the Tabrizi style, the details of Kermani carpets and other than that, some Isfahani carpets have patterns that reminds us of the painted tiles that are used in Persian architecture.

Jumping back into Kerman carpets, their main colours are red or crimson accentuated by dark colours. They’re supposed to give a warm feeling to the space. When it comes to Isfahan carpets, they also try to add warmth to the space. The difference is, weavers use bright colours (royal blue, turquoise, Persian pink, etc.) to bring joy and friendliness to the space as well. It could also be a symbol of the people’s hospitality in that region, and how Isfahani artists opened their gates to a greater world and allowed exotic ideas to impact their work.

While we’re here, I should also write a bit about Qom rugs. Even though the carpet industry in the city of Qom isn’t as old as the other cities mentioned above, the most special thing about it is that these rugs are made with pure silk! Although they’re often small-sized (that’s why I refuse to call them “carpets”), they’re absolutely expensive and few people can afford them. There are also few weavers who can make them.

(the first two are Isfahan carpets and the last one is a Qom rug)

4. Turkmen Rugs

Sailors of the Caspian and wild horses of the Caucasus!

Turkmenistan borders Iran and before joining the Soviet Union, it used to be a part of the Persian empire. However, there’s a great population of Turkmens living in northeastern Iran.

Their rich and ancient culture has never lost its original identity, regardless of having obvious impacts from different cultures such as Persian, Russian, Turkish and Mongolian.

In fact, their rugs aren’t and shouldn’t be called “Persian”. Because Persian people who happen to make up the majority of Iran’s population, are from the group of Indo-European people, while Turkmens are from the Turkic group and native to central Asia. But for long years, they’ve been a part of what’s known as the Persian empire by western nations and their rugs have always been popular in Iran, and that’s why I decided to include them here.

Anyways, their rugs aren’t outrageous like the Persian ones. Due to their nomadic lifestyle, their rugs had to be light-weight and easy to move around. So, they’re thinly-woven, often made with cotton and wool of the herds and have earth-tone colours on a red background. The patterns are simple and don’t have too many details, yet they’re bold and eye-catching; just like their Turkmen weavers who’ve developed their culture under the ruthless climate of their motherland!

Outro

Actually, Persian carpets are much more various than what I’ve explained here and even in a small province in Iran, you could find different types of rugs and carpets. But obviously, I couldn’t include them all in one post and decided to only write about some of the most famous ones. But if you’re interested, you could check out the carpets of Shiraz. The city of Shiraz, mostly famous for poetry and wine, has also got a colourful carpet industry. Plus, some nomadic tribes have been living in the Fars province (in which Shiraz is located) since the ancient times and they have their own unique style of weaving rugs. One of these notable tribes is the Qashqai, famous for its “Gabbeh carpets”.

I’d also recommend checking out the traditional rugs of the Bakhtiari people.

There are also two facts that I wanted to add to the end of the post:

If you search for Isfahan carpets (on the internet or in real carpet shops), you might find some of them labelled as Naein carpets. Naein is a small town located near Isfahan and a lot of Isfahan’s traditional weaving roots come from this place. There are still carpet factories working in this town.

A fun fact about Persian carpets is that at first look, they seem to be completely symmetrical. But if you take a deeper look, you can see that they’ve got intentional flaws; e.g if there’s an image of a row of flowers on a carpet, they’re not exactly woven on a straight line; some of them are a bit up-and-down. The reason goes back to an old Persian belief that if an artist creates something perfect and flawless, it’s an offense to God. Because it’s only God who can do things perfectly. So, if you ever decide to buy a Persian carpet, or any other Iranian handicraft, make sure that it’s got such detailed flaws. It’s one of the signs that could ensure you of the work’s originality.

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful for those who want to know more about Persian carpets <3

All of the text was written by myself, but the images (except one) aren't mine and the credits go to their respective owners.