Afshar Tribal Rugs
Filed Under Afshar Tribal Rugs, Antique Persian Rugs, Persian Rugs History, Persian Rugs Materials, Persian Tribal Rugs | Leave a Comment
Afshar tribal rugs are something of a mystery. Their origins are highly debated, going back to the 17th and 18th centuries. During the past decades, a small group of rugs have appeared in Pakistani bazaars that harken back to these mysterious Afshar rugs. Although they fit in with the general family of Antique Persian Rugs, they are quite a bit different from the rest of the pack.
Because of the problems inherent in tracing the history of these rugs, they present significant problems for collectors. These rugs have not been well studied and so we do not have an answer to what the features that signify an Afshar rug are.
One key element appears to be a fully saturated palette of reds and greens. The reds are used in the background, and the greens as floral motifs. They may also be used to symbolize bird and animal heads, with red echoes elsewhere in the rug. But the floral elements, vases, and animals may be significantly transformed from what would have been seen 100 or 200 years ago, suggesting that much has happened in their development since.
The Afshar rug appears to also use the 2-1-2 medallion layout, but usually the medallions are quartered rather than complete. Vase elements, portrayed in a stylized manner are also prominent, as are blossom borders. It is difficult to locate the Afshar elements with authority because the adoption of the language Farsi in Iran by the Afshar seems to be linked to a general loss of tribal identity and cultural arts. This has actually affected all Persian Tribal Rugs, but the Afshar variety has felt it the most.
Elements that were associated with older weavings are muted or transmuted, and integrated with the forms of other tribes and cultures. Scholars are attempting to unravel these mysteries by carefully noting and tracing specific elements at a high level of detail. Using ancient texts and prototypical rugs from museums and other institutions of cultural heritage, they are trying to pick out and trace the individual elements through lands and languages.
But for now, where do these Afshar rugs that are popping up in Pakistani bazaars belong? Should they be counted as true Persian Rugs? We do not know. It seems likely that they will eventually be understood-their distinctive palette of color and symbol is too outstanding to mystify for long. And once understood, these rugs may reveal the history of persia, a map of influences and change over centuries.
Persian Salt Bags
Filed Under Antique Persian Rugs, Handmade Persian Rugs, Kerman Rugs, Persian Rug Threads, Persian Rugs History, Persian Rugs Materials, Persian Salt Bags, Persian Tribal Rugs | Leave a Comment
The woven containers sold in the marketplaces and used by the nomadic populations of Kerman Province in Western and Southwestern Iran are called namakdan in Persian. Also referred to as Persian Salt Bags, these beautiful textiles do not only hold salt. They are also used by tribes as containers for a variety of other small items such as seeds and nuts.
These beautiful Antique Persian Rugs primarily come from the Zagros mountain areas where tribes are constantly on the move, living in pitching goat hair tents wherever the best grazing can be found for their livestock–lowland in the winter and up to higher pastures in the summer months.
As detailed in Parvis Tanavoli’s 1991 work Bread and Salt, the rugs are primarily the work of the Turkish-speaking Afshars, and the Persian-speaking women, both nomadic and settled in villages, who also produce a large portion of the rugs woven in Kerman. The clans within the tribes may also contribute unique designs, that are difficult to assess for an outsider in this very insular society.
Hard information is impossible to come by, and no one can with certainty connect any given pattern to any given weaver. It is impossible to validate local experts when they attribute patterns to specific tribes because there is no way to verify the information. It might be possible for textile experts to observe distinctive patterns if they could observe the women at work. This is particularly true for Persian Rugs compared to other types.
However, foreign researchers are handicapped from more extensive research by the traditional nomadic culture that does not allow males to observe the tribal women while they are doing the weaving. Some suggest that women researchers would be idea to do such observation, but there may not be many more years to study these weavers before the traditions die out.
Researcher P.R.J. Ford found a great deal of information from merchants in the bazaars of Tehran, Sirjan, and Shahr-e Baback, who have direct contact with the tribal group who sell their own textiles to them or to their pickers, who go directly to the nomads to find woven goods. Some of the motifs that are particular attractive include stars, rosettes, chevrons, diamonds, stripes and eight-sided geometric forms.
What observer and collector John Wertime observes in his collection as particularly Kerman is a peach gradually progressing to orange coloration on the back of the neck of the container, while a blue basic color graduating to red can be seen on the front of the neck of the same container.
True collectors of textiles would wish to see more of this skillful work, and mourn the impossibility of discovering who has done which work and the unlikelihood that this traditional skill will be able to continue to thrive as the nomadic tribes face the pressures of modern society and are less able to maintain their cultural traditions.
Antique Persian Rugs Materials
Filed Under Antique Persian Rugs, Handmade Persian Rugs, Persian Rug Threads, Persian Rug Weavers, Persian Rug Weaving, Persian Rugs Materials, Silk Persian Rugs, Weaving Persian Rugs, Wool Persian Rugs | Leave a Comment
Persian rugs are made of many types of material, such as jute (a fiber similar to cotton), wool, cotton, silk, flax and hemp. These materials can be used alone, but are often combined to produce beautiful mixed carpets. In addition, materials like wool come in many different types depending on the animal the wool is taken from, such as sheep, goats or camel. Antique Persian Rugs use many different types of materials.
Although we often think of wool as simply white, in reality wool comes in a wide variety of colors (and textures). Wool is one of the oldest materials used for making rugs and is still in widespread use today for making tufted and knotted carpets. It is also used to make pile and also the cloth strings that form the basis of the rug.
As noted, wool comes in a wide variety of colors and textures. There are also different grades or qualities of wool – all wool is not the same, and this is crucial to consider as you buy your Antique Persian Rugs!
Cotton is the second most important rug component after wool in the wum carpet industry. It is not used as a material for the cloth base, which is the structure around which the rest of the carpet is woven. The base is comprised of the strings of a basis & weftsal strings.
However, it is often used as a basis for deduction carpet knots. It can also be intertwined with wool in the carpet pile (as in mercerized cotton). Cotton is hygroscopic and absorbs water readily through the air and so should be used primarily in low humidity environments; otherwise, damage is possible.
Mercerization is a chemical process that gives cotton a silky luster and simultaneously makes it easier to color and stretch the cotton. Nearly all machined rugs use mercerized cotton nowadays. Mercerized cotton is also known as wood silk, vegetative silk, flosh, ‘silk-like material’ and ipekli. Nearly all Persian Rugs use mercerization.
Silk is one of the premium elements that can be incorporated into carpets and rugs. Silk production began in China in the fourth millennium BC and was a carefully protected secret for thousands of years. Silk is formed from the cocoons of the silkworm, which is a caterpillar that feeds on mulberry leaves. Less than half of the cocoon, however, is used in the making of first-class silk; the coarse outer silk can be used for rougher purposes, like dolls. Silk has amazing elasticity and tensile strength and can be a beautiful and durable material for rugs.
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