Geometric Motifs

Woman

Gul

Deer

Camel

Curvilinear

Boteh

Symbol

Flower

Flower

Flower

Cloud

Pattern

In the rug industry, pattern is divided into the three categories of curvilinear, geometric, and pictorial.

Curvilinear

Patterns created with smooth curving lines are called curvilinear. Curvilinear patterns can be seen in all three layouts of all-over, medallion, and one-sided. Creation of curves generally requires a higher knot density. However, a high knot density does not automatically result in a curvilinear pattern. In curvilinear rugs, the pattern is usually drawn on a squared paper knot by knot. This extremely detailed drawing is called cartoon. Then the pattern is carefully copied from the cartoon onto the rug. This technique is more commonly used in workshops. Kerman, Kashan, Esfahan, Nain and Qum styles are good representations of the curvilinear pattern.

Geometric

Patterns created with straight lines are called geometric. Their designs are created mostly with right angles, diagonals, triangles, and other geometric shapes. Geometric patterns can be seen in all three layouts of all-over, medallion, and one-sided. With some exceptions, geometric rugs are predominantly woven by nomadic tribes and village groups. The ones woven by nomads tend to be simple and the ones woven by villagers or workshops can have either simple or very complex motifs such as geometric rugs of Heriz (Persian) style, which are very intricate. Baluchi, Turkoman, Turkish and Caucasian styles are good representations of the geometric pattern.

Rug Styles

Rug styles of the world include Persian, Chinese, Turkoman, Caucasian, European, Anatolian, Tibetan, Indian, Baluchi, North African, Native American, and East Turkestan. In addition, many of these styles have sub-styles; for example, Tabriz is a sub-style of Persian style.
Many styles or sub-styles are made in their place of origin as well as in other countries or areas. For example, a Tabriz style rug may be made in Tabriz; it could also be made in India.

Pile

Pile refers to the material (fiber) used for weaving rugs. Only natural fibers are used in handmade rugs. The main pile materials are wool, silk and cotton. Sometimes, goat and camel hair are also used by nomadic and village weavers.

Foundation

Foundation refers to the basic structural components of handmade rugs. These components consist of warps and wefts.

Warp

Warps are vertical strands of fiber which stretch from the top to the bottom of the rug. Warps are an extremely important component because the knots are tied to them and the weft strands are passed (woven) through them. Even tension of all warp strands is essential in producing a rug without wrinkles. The extensions of warp strands are rug fringes. Fringes are knotted at the ends to ensure that the wefts and the knots do not unravel.

Weft

Wefts are horizontal strands of fiber that are passed (woven) through the warp strands. Unlike the warps, wefts are not structured prior to weaving. They are added before and in between the rows of knots to secure the knots in place. Each side of the rug, where the wefts begin and end, is called selvedge.

Foundation Material

In general, the same material is used for both warp and weft, and it is often cotton. Wool is used as a foundation material in some nomadic and village rugs because wool is readily available to these weaving groups. Silk is generally used in foundation of rugs with silk piles. Rugs with silk foundation and pile are very exceptional and expensive. These rugs are light in weight and are very finely knotted. Silk is a very good foundation material because it is very strong and keeps its shape.

Tibetian Knot With Respect to Warps and Wefts

Jufti Knot With Respect to Warps and Wefts

Turkish Knot With Respect to Warps and Wefts

Persian Knot with Respect to Warps and Wefts

Persian Kashan Shah Abbasi

Persian Bijar Herati

Gul

Boteh

Motifs Common in All Over Layout

Boteh (Persian for "bush"): A pear-shaped figure usually used in the field of an all-over repeat layout. There are many versions of boteh, from geometric to curvilinear and simple to complex. Boteh has been thought to represent a leaf, a bush, a flame, or a pinecone.

Shah Abbasi: A group of palmettes that can be seen in all-over and medallion layouts as well as in borders. This motif is frequently seen in rugs of Kashan, Esfahan, Mashad, Nain, and in rugs of countries which copy Persian styles such as India, China and Pakistan.

Gul, Gol: A motif in the shape of an octagon used in Turkoman designs. Usually, one gul is repeated in an all-over layout. Gul is the Persian name for flower. However, some rug scholars argue that the Turkoman gul has originated from an ancient Turkish word meaning family or tribe, and historically each tribe had its own symbolic version of gul.

Herati (Fish): A motif consisting of a flower inside a diamond and curving leaves outside the diamond which are parallel to each side. This motif is commonly used in the field of an all-over layout. The leaves sometimes look similar to fish. There are many versions of the herati motif, from geometric to curvilinear and simple to complex.

Background and Border Colours

This is the dominant color in the background of the rug. Background color is the underlying color of the entire rug with the exception of the border. In some cases, however, the background and the border color are the same. The most widely used background colors are red, blue, beige, and yellow. These colors come in various shades and hues.In many rugs, the border color is not as readily distinguished as the background color. One reason is that there are always colorful designs and patterns in the border of the rug, and hence they overshadow the actual border color.Major border colors are red, blue, beige, yellow, and green. These colors come in various shades and hues.

Colour Symbolism

Traditional and religious meanings of colors sometimes affect the choice of colors used in handmade rugs. Green, for example, is considered by Muslims to be a holy color; therefore, until the end of 19th century, it was mainly used in prayer rugs.However, at the end of the 19th century, in order to comply with Western taste, numerous decorative rugs containing green were produced for exportation. Red, the most widely used rug color, means happiness and joy. Yellow and gold are Chinese royal colors and symbolize wealth and power. Dark blue signifies solitude. White is symbol of mourning, peace, and purity in Persia, China, and India, and brown, the color of earth, symbolizes harvest and fertility. Today, however, as stated above, because of exportation, color symbolism is not observed to the same extent, but it can still be seen, mostly in rugs produced for local use.

One sided Layout

One Sided Layout

One sided Layout

One Sided Layout

In this layout, the design is woven in one direction. Therefore, the rug can be properly viewed only from one side, similar to a photograph. For this reason, this layout is also known as one-directional. Prayer and pictorial rugs fall into this category.

The usual design of a prayer rug is a mihrab (the prayer niche constructed in a mosque wall that indicates the direction of Mecca); pictorial rugs portray people, animals, and places. It is essential that one-sided rugs be viewed from the right direction; otherwise, they lose much of their effect. Rugs of this layout should be placed where they cannot be seen upside-down. For example, the top side of the rug could lay against a wall, or the rug could be used as a wall-hanging.

Persian Tabriz( Diamond Medallion)

Persian Nain ( Circular Medallion)

Persian Kerman (Square Medallion)

Medallion Layout Plan

Medallion Layout

In this layout, a large centerpiece called medallion is the focal point of the design. In Persian, this centerpiece is called toranj. The medallion layout is by far the most frequently encountered layout in every handmade rug producing country.

Common shapes of the centerpiece are oval, circular, diamond, octagonal, hexagonal, and stars. One special case of a medallion layout is called medallion-and-corner, which was originally inspired by bookbindings, especially those of the holy book of Islam, Quran. This special medallion is distinguished by its quartered medallions in four corners of the rug in addition to the full medallion in the center. The corner elements are called spandrels or lachak in Turkish. Medallion-and-corner is also known as lachak-o-toranj (a Turko-Persian word).

Sometimes there are small floral extensions at the top and bottom of the medallion called pendants. The pendants usually consist of two parts. The part closer to the medallion is called katibeh and the part further away from the medallion is called kalaleh in Persian.

All Over Layout (Panelled)

All Over Layout (Endless Repeat)

All Over Layout (Repeating)

All Over Layout

In this layout, there are no dominant or central designs. The motifs on the rug are spread throughout the rug. Sometimes they are connected and sometimes they are separate. Usually a single motif or a group of motifs is repeated throughout the rug. The motifs could be small and repeated many times, or large and repeated only a few times. The Persian name afshan, which means scattered, has been given to the all-over layout. Some common designs that fall under this layout are repeating, endless repeat, and panelled.

In a repeating design, which is a very common example of the all-over layout, a single motif or group of motifs is repeated throughout the rug as mentioned above. In an endless repeat, the motifs do not end and are interrupted by the borders. Some say this design is symbolic of eternity. In a panelled design, the background is divided into compartments. The same motif could be repeated in all the compartments, or different motifs could be repeated in different compartments.
Some common motifs used in the all-over layout are boteh, gul, herati, lattice, mina-khani, mir-i-boteh, and lotto

Rug Layouts

Persian rugs, and rugs in general, have a limited number of layouts. Some of the most commonly used for Persian designs are the all-over, medallion and one-sided layouts.

Motifs

There are a number of patterns which are found in Persian and Oriental rugs called 'motifs', these designs have different meanings and tend to be used depending on the area the rug was woven although it is not unusual to find more than one motif in a single rug.
Some of the more common motifs are
Boteh
Gul
Herati
Mina-Khani
Rosette
Shah Abbasi

Slip-Ons

Footwear

Chignon

Hat

Turkish / Ghiordes Knot

Persian / Senneh / Hamadan Knot

Anatolian and Persian carpets

The difference between Anatolian (Turkish) and Persian carpets is today largely one of tradition.
Typically, a traditional Persian carpet is tied with a single looping knot (Persian or Senneh Knot), while the traditional Anatolian carpet is tied with a double looping knot (Turkish or Ghiordes Knot). This means that for every 'vertical strand' of thread in a carpet, an Anatolian carpet has two loops as opposed to the one loop for the various Persian carpets that use a Persian 'single' knot. Ultimately, this process of 'double knotting' in traditional Anatolian carpets results in a slightly more block like image compared to the traditional 'single knotted' Persian carpet. The traditional Anatolian style also reduces the number of Knots per sq cm.[citation needed]
Today, it is common to see carpets woven in both Turkey and Iran using either of the two knot styles. When comparing carpets the only way to definitively identify the knot used is to splay open the pile by bending the rug against itself and looking at the base of the knot.
See also: Knots per sq cm

Ushak Carpets

In the Classical period there was a significant production of supervised workshop "Court" carpets. In the large carpets there are two distinct groups. The larger group is the so-called "Ushak Medallion Carpet" . The smaller group is the Star Oushak carpet.

Knot Density

Knot density is a traditional measure for quality of handmade carpets. It refers, quite simply, to the number of knots per unit of surface area - typically either per square inch or per square centimeter.
For two carpets of the same age and similar design, the one with the higher number of knots will be the more valuable. With more than 30 knots per square centimeter (1 sq cm = approx. 0.155 square inch), the carpet pattern will have less pixelation. The carpet's surface will also feel more solid and will give better protection against aging.
A Persian carpet with fewer than 30 knots per sq cm is generally considered an average to low-quality carpet, while over 50 indicates a fine piece of work.Hand-tying of knots is a very labour-intensive task. An average weaver can tie almost 10,000 knots per day. More difficult patterns with an above-average knot density can only be woven by a skilful weaver, thus increasing the production costs even more.

Kabutar Ahang/Kabud Rahang/ Kabutarhang

Kabutar Ahangh is Northeast of Hamadan The Kabutar Ahangh rug is structurally in the Hamadan Rug Group but it is unusual in that it produces larger sizes that we usually see ftom the Hamadan area. The example below is typical of the mid 20th century rugs. They often have small medallions with detached floral sprays.

Kabutar Ahang

Flat Woven Carpets

Flat woven carpets are given their colour and pattern from the weft which is tightly intertwined with the warp. Rather than an actual pile, the foundation of these rugs gives them their design. The weft is woven between the warp until a new colour is needed, it is then looped back and knotted before a new colour is implemented.
The most popular of flat-weaves is called the Kilim. Kilim rugs (along with jewellery, clothing and animals) are important for the identity and wealth of nomadic tribes-people. In their traditional setting Kilims are used as floor and wall coverings, horse-saddles, storage bags, bedding and cushion covers.
Various forms of flat-weaves exist including:
Herati
Jajim
Kilim
Maleki
Sirjan
Soumak
Suzani

Khan Mohammedi

Types Of Persian Rugs

Carpet dealers have developed a classification for Persian carpets based on design, type of fabric, and weaving technique. The categories are named for cities and areas associated with each design:
Abadeh
Afghan/Yomut (Turkmen)
Ahar
Afshar
Arak
Ardabil
Ardestan
Bakhtiari see also Afghan carpet
Beluch
Birjand
Brujerd
Chelaberd
Dorokhsh
Farahan
Ferdos
Ghayen
Gonabad
Gonbad Ghaboos
Gorgan
Hariz
Herat
Heriz
Isfahan
Joshghan
Jozan
Kashan
Kashmar
Kerman
Lilian
Mahan
Mahalat
Maku
Mamasani
Marand
Mashhad
Mazlaghan
Meshkin Shahr
Moshk Abad
Mood
Nain
Nishaboor
Rafsanjan
Ravar
Saraband
Sarab
Saraband
Sarukh
Semnan
Sha Savan
Shahre Kord
Shiraz
Shahr Reza
Qazvin
Qom
Tabriz
Tehran
Torghabeh
Veramin
Yalameh
Yazd
Zanjan
Zabol
Rugs for a specific purpose include:
Hunting Scene Rugs

Pearl Necklace

Khan Mohammedi

Afghan Khan Mohammedi

These carpets and rugs are produced in Northern Afghanistan in and around the town of Kunduz, one of the principle marketing centres in the north.
Khan Mohammadi carpets are woven by several different people producing various designs including traditional 'gul' or 'fil pai'. They are generally woven using Afghan Karaqul wool, in an assortment of warm reds, deep red and maroons.

Khan Mohammedi

Persian Yalameh

Shiva

Shiraz

Ushak Medallion

Damghan