Changes

Although it is probable that magnificent [[Silk|silk]]-and-brocade rugs in the style of the Safavid court manufactories<ref>see ix, above</ref> were no longer produced in significant quantities, it seems reasonable to assume that production of less luxurious [[Wool|wool]] rugs continued in many traditional centers, even though on a smaller scale and mainly for domestic consumption, rather than for export. It is also likely that tribal rugs were still woven and that felts and other types of non-pile floor coverings, both local and imported, were still in demand.<br>

Although it is probable that magnificent [[Silk|silk]]-and-brocade rugs in the style of the Safavid court manufactories<ref>see ix, above</ref> were no longer produced in significant quantities, it seems reasonable to assume that production of less luxurious [[Wool|wool]] rugs continued in many traditional centers, even though on a smaller scale and mainly for domestic consumption, rather than for export. It is also likely that tribal rugs were still woven and that felts and other types of non-pile floor coverings, both local and imported, were still in demand.<br>

According to an agent of the French Compagnie des Indes<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about French Compagnie des Indes see Britannica, "[https://www.britannica.com/topic/French-East-India-Company French East India Company]]"</ref>, in 1150/1738 “beautiful carpets of silk and wool” were available in the bāzār at Bandar-e ʿAbbās<ref>Housego, p. 40</ref>. Nāder Shah himself ordered rugs and felt floor coverings from the city of Kermān to redecorate the church of Yerevan<ref>Īravān</ref> in Armenia and the shrine of ʿAlī at Najaf in Mesopotamia<ref>Marvī, I, p. 410, III, p. 892</ref>. Such a sizable order seems to indicate active production in this center. He may also have ordered similar rugs for the shrine of Imam ʿAlī al-Reżā at Mašhad, which he repaired and improved<ref>see āstān-e qods</ref>, as well as for his treasure house at Kalāt<ref>-e Nāderī</ref> in Khorasan and the small palace that he built in Qazvīn. The grandiose royal tent of silk installed for his coronation in 1148/1736 at Dašt-e Moḡān in Azerbaijan was strewn with silk carpets and carpets from Kermān<ref>Marvī, II, p. 454</ref>.<br>

According to an agent of the French Compagnie des Indes<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about French Compagnie des Indes see Britannica, "[https://www.britannica.com/topic/French-East-India-Company French East India Company]]"</ref>, in 1150/1738 “beautiful carpets of silk and wool” were available in the bāzār at Bandar-e ʿAbbās<ref>Housego, p. 40</ref>. Nāder Shah himself ordered rugs and felt floor coverings from the city of Kermān to redecorate the church of Yerevan<ref>Īravān</ref> in Armenia and the shrine of ʿAlī at Najaf in Mesopotamia<ref>Marvī, I, p. 410, III, p. 892</ref>. Such a sizable order seems to indicate active production in this center. He may also have ordered similar rugs for the shrine of Imam ʿAlī al-Reżā at Mašhad, which he repaired and improved<ref>see āstān-e qods</ref>, as well as for his treasure house at Kalāt<ref>-e Nāderī</ref> in Khorasan and the small palace that he built in Qazvīn. The grandiose royal tent of silk installed for his coronation in 1148/1736 at Dašt-e Moḡān in Azerbaijan was strewn with silk carpets and carpets from Kermān<ref>Marvī, II, p. 454</ref>.<br>

[[File:Kirman Carpet-Iran National Museum-WikiRug.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The wool carpet in the Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān, Tehran, with a design consisting of a single-plane lattice. The date 1172/1758 and the name of the weaver, Moḥammad Šarīf Kermānī, are woven into an epigraphic cartouche. [https://irannationalmuseum.ir/en/%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b2%d9%87-%d9%85%d9%84%db%8c/ Kirman Carpet in Iran National Museum]]

[[File:Kirman Carpet-Iran National Museum-WikiRug.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The wool carpet in the Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān, Tehran, with a design consisting of a single-plane lattice. The date 1172/1758 and the name of the weaver, Moḥammad Šarīf Kermānī, are woven into an epigraphic cartouche. [https://irannationalmuseum.ir/en/%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b2%d9%87-%d9%85%d9%84%db%8c/ Kirman Carpet in Iran National Museum]]]

The renewed local prosperity and stability that accompanied the reign of Moḥammad Karīm Khan Zand<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Moḥammad Karīm Khan Zand see Iranica, "[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karim-khan-zand KARIM KHAN ZAND]]"</ref> in Shiraz and southern Persia (1163-93/1750-79) must have been favorable for rug production there. Indeed, according to one of his contemporaries Karīm Khan himself claimed to be skilled in carpet weaving, as well as in several other métiers<ref>Āṣaf, p. 309</ref>. The belief that carpet production continued is confirmed by a wool carpet in the Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān see Iran National Museum, "[https://irannationalmuseum.ir/en/%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b2%d9%87-%d9%85%d9%84%db%8c/ Iran National Museum]]"</ref>, Tehran, with a design consisting of a single-plane lattice with flowering plants in the compartments; the knotting technique is the same as that associated with vase carpets<ref>the “vase technique”; see iii, above</ref>. The date 1172/1758 and the name of the weaver, Moḥammad Šarīf Kermānī, are woven into an epigraphic cartouche<ref>Housego, p. 44; cf. Pope, p. 2266</ref>. This dated example can thus serve as the nucleus for a larger group of related rugs that are not precisely dated. A number of extant rugs in “millefiori” and “paisley” patterns<ref>see iv, above</ref> resembling rugs illustrated in contemporary paintings or with color schemes and designs paralleled in other Zand decorative media, have also been suggested as possible examples of Shiraz and Kermān production. Some rugs may also have been produced in Khorasan in this period<ref>Housego, pp. 46-50</ref>.<br>

The renewed local prosperity and stability that accompanied the reign of Moḥammad Karīm Khan Zand<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Moḥammad Karīm Khan Zand see Iranica, "[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karim-khan-zand KARIM KHAN ZAND]]"</ref> in Shiraz and southern Persia (1163-93/1750-79) must have been favorable for rug production there. Indeed, according to one of his contemporaries Karīm Khan himself claimed to be skilled in carpet weaving, as well as in several other métiers<ref>Āṣaf, p. 309</ref>. The belief that carpet production continued is confirmed by a wool carpet in the Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Mūza-ye Īrān-e Bāstān see Iran National Museum, "[https://irannationalmuseum.ir/en/%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%b1%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%88%d8%b2%d9%87-%d9%85%d9%84%db%8c/ Iran National Museum]]"</ref>, Tehran, with a design consisting of a single-plane lattice with flowering plants in the compartments; the knotting technique is the same as that associated with vase carpets<ref>the “vase technique”; see iii, above</ref>. The date 1172/1758 and the name of the weaver, Moḥammad Šarīf Kermānī, are woven into an epigraphic cartouche<ref>Housego, p. 44; cf. Pope, p. 2266</ref>. This dated example can thus serve as the nucleus for a larger group of related rugs that are not precisely dated. A number of extant rugs in “millefiori” and “paisley” patterns<ref>see iv, above</ref> resembling rugs illustrated in contemporary paintings or with color schemes and designs paralleled in other Zand decorative media, have also been suggested as possible examples of Shiraz and Kermān production. Some rugs may also have been produced in Khorasan in this period<ref>Housego, pp. 46-50</ref>.<br>

By the 1780s and 1790s East India Company<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about East India Company see Britannica, "[https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-India-Company East India Company]]"</ref>  merchants in Persia were reporting the availability of carpets in Būšehr<ref>Bushire; Issawi, p. 88</ref> and extolling Khorasan carpets for their “brightness of colors and elegance of workmanship”<ref>Housego, p. 48</ref>. Other travelers and diplomats in the 12th/18th century made only brief references to rugs: In 1786 it was noted that Yazd and Kermān were exporting felts and carpets<ref>Franklin, p. 148</ref>; in the late 1780s beautiful carpets woven in Khorasan, some even with grounds of gold thread, were noted<ref>Ferrières de Sauvebœuf, II, p. 8</ref>. In 1801, in a confidential report on the manufactures, exports, and imports of Persia made by Sir John Malcolm<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Sir John Malcolm see British Museum, "[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG155093 Sir John Malcolm]]"</ref> to the director of the board of control of the East India Company, Yazd, Kāšān, Ṭabas, and cities in independent Khorasan are mentioned as carpet-manufacturing centers<ref>Malcolm apud Issawi, pp. 262-63; cf. Hambly, p. 81</ref>. In 1826 an immensely useful and detailed account of Persian commerce was published; it shows that carpets were being produced in sizable numbers in both traditional and new centers: Herat, Kermān, Yazd, Borūjerd, the Turkman areas of Khorasan, Isfahan, and Azerbaijan<ref>Fraser, p. 362</ref>.<br>

By the 1780s and 1790s East India Company<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about East India Company see Britannica, "[https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-India-Company East India Company]]"</ref>  merchants in Persia were reporting the availability of carpets in Būšehr<ref>Bushire; Issawi, p. 88</ref> and extolling Khorasan carpets for their “brightness of colors and elegance of workmanship”<ref>Housego, p. 48</ref>. Other travelers and diplomats in the 12th/18th century made only brief references to rugs: In 1786 it was noted that Yazd and Kermān were exporting felts and carpets<ref>Franklin, p. 148</ref>; in the late 1780s beautiful carpets woven in Khorasan, some even with grounds of gold thread, were noted<ref>Ferrières de Sauvebœuf, II, p. 8</ref>. In 1801, in a confidential report on the manufactures, exports, and imports of Persia made by Sir John Malcolm<ref>[WikiRug: For more information about Sir John Malcolm see British Museum, "[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG155093 Sir John Malcolm]]"</ref> to the director of the board of control of the East India Company, Yazd, Kāšān, Ṭabas, and cities in independent Khorasan are mentioned as carpet-manufacturing centers<ref>Malcolm apud Issawi, pp. 262-63; cf. Hambly, p. 81</ref>. In 1826 an immensely useful and detailed account of Persian commerce was published; it shows that carpets were being produced in sizable numbers in both traditional and new centers: Herat, Kermān, Yazd, Borūjerd, the Turkman areas of Khorasan, Isfahan, and Azerbaijan<ref>Fraser, p. 362</ref>.<br>