Ferdos Rug

Ferdos Rug
Design of Ferdos Rug (Rugman)
General information
Name	Ferdos Rug
Original name	قالی فردوس
Alternative name(s)	Ferdos Carpet
Origin	Iran: Khorasan
Category	Village
Technical information
Common designs	Geometric, Tree
Common colors	Red, Begie, Blue
Dyeing method	Natural, Synthetic
Pile material	Wool
Foundation material	Cotton
Knot type	Asymmetrical (Persian)

Ferdos rugs originate from Ferdos, a small town in the Province of Khorassan in northeastern Iran. Rug weaving in Khorasan goes back thousands of years. Known for their beautiful hand made traditional rugs, Ferdos was also the birthplace of Ferdowsi, one of Iran's greatest poets and scholars. Ferdos boasts the first tribal members to weave traditional rugs for personal use as well as for trade. Even today, the Ferdos villagers produce the finest quality traditional rugs with the same marvelous technique that they’ve been using for centuries. Jufti knots are seen in traditional rugs from this region. They are like the Persian knot with depressed warps but the knot loops around two warps at a time rather than one.

History

Ferdos, also spelled Ferdows, is a town located in the Khorasan Province of eastern Iran and is mostly populated by Arab Baluch tribes. In the antique market older Ferdos rugs are known as Arab Boft, which means, "woven by Arab Baluch tribe members." Ferdos rugs have a wool foundation and a wool pile; after World War II the foundations were mostly made with cotton. The Persian (asymmetric) knot is the weaving technique employed.
Before World War II Ferdos formats ranged from tribal items to Prayer Rugs. The medallion, palmette, and Minakhani (rosette-linked trellis) designs were especially popular in the older weavings. They usually contain red or dark blue colorations for the background. In addition to these colors, ivory, orange, blue, gray, and brown are included for the design motifs and borders.
After the war many of the Ferdos weavers began to make a new style of rugs and carpets with natural sheep wool colors of white, brown, and black, and sizes were extended to room dimensions. This nomadic style with simple coloration became successful and was in demand in Western markets. The rugs have a simple allover or medallion design, or, at times, an Open Field style. Meshad dealers for Western clients commissioned some of these room-size carpets.
Generally, Ferdos woven rugs are low in grade quality and they were lower in price compared to all other Baluch tribal rugs woven in Khorasan.

See also

Search for Ferdos Rug on Wikipedia.

Bibliography

1. Abraham Levi Moheban. 2015. The Encyclopedia of Antique Carpets: Twenty-Five Centuries of Weaving. NewYork: Princeton Architectural Press.