Changes

Today the patterns woven in urban carpet workshops in Persia are usually copied directly from cartoons. The cartoon also plays a vital role in cottage carpet weaving, as it allows an entrepreneur to place orders for a specific pattern with any number of individual loom owners. As a single loom owner may be simultaneously under contract to more than one manufacturing firm, however, it is virtually impossible to copyright designs at the cottage level, and many incidents of design piracy have been recorded in correspondence from foreign manufacturing firms in Iran to their respective consuls<ref>e.g., U.K. Foreign Office 248.1072, 11/21/13</ref>.<br>

Today the patterns woven in urban carpet workshops in Persia are usually copied directly from cartoons. The cartoon also plays a vital role in cottage carpet weaving, as it allows an entrepreneur to place orders for a specific pattern with any number of individual loom owners. As a single loom owner may be simultaneously under contract to more than one manufacturing firm, however, it is virtually impossible to copyright designs at the cottage level, and many incidents of design piracy have been recorded in correspondence from foreign manufacturing firms in Iran to their respective consuls<ref>e.g., U.K. Foreign Office 248.1072, 11/21/13</ref>.<br>

Designers<ref>naqqāš</ref>. The importance of the designer in the hierarchy of artisans involved in carpet production is reflected in the occasional inclusion of designers’ names in custom-woven carpets<ref>Ittig, 1985, no. 5</ref>; generally, carpet inscriptions mention only patrons and/or loom owners<ref>ostād</ref>, rather than actual craftsmen. Design training has traditionally been conducted according to the apprenticeship system<ref>Parhām, n.p.; Edwards, p. 207</ref>; it was not unusual for the skill to be passed down from father to son<ref>Parhām, n.p.; Edwards, p. 207</ref>. A designer might work either for a specific firm or on commission, supplying designs to more than one manufacturer<ref>Edwards, pp. 308, 337</ref>. During the late 13th/19th and early 14th/20th centuries, a “boom” period for Persian carpets, competition for designers was keen; for example, in Kermān one Āqā Moḥammad, a designer under contract to the Eastern Rug and Trading Company, was lured by higher wages into the employ of the German firm Persische Teppichgesellschaft AG<ref>PETAG; U.K Foreign Office 248.1072, 9/8/13</ref>.<br>

Designers<ref>naqqāš</ref>. The importance of the designer in the hierarchy of artisans involved in carpet production is reflected in the occasional inclusion of designers’ names in custom-woven carpets<ref>Ittig, 1985, no. 5</ref>; generally, carpet inscriptions mention only patrons and/or loom owners<ref>ostād</ref>, rather than actual craftsmen. Design training has traditionally been conducted according to the apprenticeship system<ref>Parhām, n.p.; Edwards, p. 207</ref>; it was not unusual for the skill to be passed down from father to son<ref>Parhām, n.p.; Edwards, p. 207</ref>. A designer might work either for a specific firm or on commission, supplying designs to more than one manufacturer<ref>Edwards, pp. 308, 337</ref>. During the late 13th/19th and early 14th/20th centuries, a “boom” period for Persian carpets, competition for designers was keen; for example, in Kermān one Āqā Moḥammad, a designer under contract to the Eastern Rug and Trading Company, was lured by higher wages into the employ of the German firm Persische Teppichgesellschaft AG<ref>PETAG; U.K Foreign Office 248.1072, 9/8/13</ref>.<br>

Design and provenience. No extant example of a knotted-pile carpet that can be firmly attributed to Persian manufacture before the 10th/16th century is known<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Pre-Islamic Carpets|vi. Pre-Islamic carpets]]"] and "[[Persian Carpets/Islamic Persia to the Mongols|vii. Islamic Persia to the Mongols]]"]</ref>. Early geographers, historians, and travelers provided only cursory descriptions of carpet designs and manufacture<ref>for an annotated compilation of historical references to trade and production of textiles, including carpets, into the 8th/14th century, see Serjeant</ref>. Perhaps the most famous pre-Safavid carpets are the legendary Bahārestān carpet<ref>see bahār-e kesrā</ref>, or “Spring of Kosrow,” and the Pazyryk carpet<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Pre-Islamic Carpets|vi. Pre-Islamic carpets]]"]</ref>. The former, if in fact it was a woven carpet, was probably of flat-woven, rather than pile, construction<ref>Edwards, p. 2</ref>. Recent archeological evidence suggests that the Pazyryk carpet, on the other hand, may not be of Persian origin but a product of Central Asia or Siberia<ref>Kawami, pp. 16-17 and nn. 64-66</ref>.<br>

Design and provenience. No extant example of a knotted-pile carpet that can be firmly attributed to Persian manufacture before the 10th/16th century is known<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Pre-Islamic Carpets|vi. Pre-Islamic carpets]]"] and "[[Persian Carpets/Islamic Persia to the Mongols|vii. Islamic Persia to the Mongols]]"]</ref>. Early geographers, historians, and travelers provided only cursory descriptions of carpet designs and manufacture<ref>for an annotated compilation of historical references to trade and production of textiles, including carpets, into the 8th/14th century, see Serjeant</ref>. Perhaps the most famous pre-Safavid carpets are the legendary Bahārestān carpet<ref>see bahār-e kesrā</ref>, or “Spring of Kosrow,” and the [[Pazyryk Carpet|Pazyryk carpet]]<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Pre-Islamic Carpets|vi. Pre-Islamic carpets]]"]</ref>. The former, if in fact it was a woven carpet, was probably of flat-woven, rather than pile, construction<ref>Edwards, p. 2</ref>. Recent archeological evidence suggests that the Pazyryk carpet, on the other hand, may not be of Persian origin but a product of Central Asia or Siberia<ref>Kawami, pp. 16-17 and nn. 64-66</ref>.<br>

Although the chronology of Anatolian carpets in the 9th-12th/15th-18th centuries is based largely upon comparison with representations in European painting<ref>Mills, pp. 10-33</ref>, similar methods are less useful in dating carpets attributed to Persian manufacture<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Introductory Survey|i. Introductory Survey]]"]</ref>. Persian carpets, usually of the “Herat” or “Indo-Persian” group, appear in the 11th/17th century, in the paintings of van Dyck, Rubens, and Vermeer, and other European artists, but for earlier periods scholars have traditionally relied for dating on stylistic comparisons with architectural ornament, bookbindings, manuscript illuminations, and depictions of floor coverings and textiles in miniature paintings<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Islamic Persia to the Mongols|vii. Islamic Persia to the Mongols]]"] and "[[Persian Carpets/The Il-khanid and Timurid Periods|viii. Il-khanid and Timurid periods]]"]</ref>.<br>

Although the chronology of Anatolian carpets in the 9th-12th/15th-18th centuries is based largely upon comparison with representations in European painting<ref>Mills, pp. 10-33</ref>, similar methods are less useful in dating carpets attributed to Persian manufacture<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Introductory Survey|i. Introductory Survey]]"]</ref>. Persian carpets, usually of the “Herat” or “Indo-Persian” group, appear in the 11th/17th century, in the paintings of van Dyck, Rubens, and Vermeer, and other European artists, but for earlier periods scholars have traditionally relied for dating on stylistic comparisons with architectural ornament, bookbindings, manuscript illuminations, and depictions of floor coverings and textiles in miniature paintings<ref>[WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/Islamic Persia to the Mongols|vii. Islamic Persia to the Mongols]]"] and "[[Persian Carpets/The Il-khanid and Timurid Periods|viii. Il-khanid and Timurid periods]]"]</ref>.<br>

Among the earliest visual evidence for Persian carpets are the depictions of floor coverings in Timurid miniature paintings, where the predominant field designs are small repeat patterns of squares, hexagons, octagons, circles, and crosses; borders often contain repetitious “pseudo-Kufic” designs<ref>Briggs, 1940; [WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/The Il-khanid and Timurid Periods|viii. Il-khanid and Timurid periods]]"]</ref>. Unfortunately, these paintings give no indication of technique and may represent flatweaves, pile carpets, or even, in some instances, felts. Furthermore, extant Anatolian, Spanish, and Mamluk rugs, as well as carpets depicted in contemporary European paintings, attest that an “octagon” style was in vogue internationally at that time<ref>King, pp. 14-21, pls. 7-12, 14-16, 22-25; Mills, pp. 10-26, pls. 3, 5-7, 11-12</ref>. The floor covering that most closely resembles in design those in Timurid paintings is the zīlū, a sturdy cotton flatweave with a double-cloth structure<ref>Wulff, Crafts, pp. 210-11; Beattie, 1981, p. 171, figs. 2, 4, 6-7; see v, below</ref>. The date on a fragmentary zīlū with a waqf inscription found in the congregational mosque at Maybod, near [[Yazd Rug|Yazd]], has been interpreted as 808/1405<ref>Afšār, pls. 44-45</ref>; if that is correct, this fragment would be of Timurid or [[Turkmen Rug|Turkman]] manufacture, the oldest carpet firmly attributable to Persian looms.<br>

Among the earliest visual evidence for Persian carpets are the depictions of floor coverings in Timurid miniature paintings, where the predominant field designs are small repeat patterns of squares, hexagons, octagons, circles, and crosses; borders often contain repetitious “pseudo-Kufic” designs<ref>Briggs, 1940; [WikiRug: For more information see "[[Persian Carpets/The Il-khanid and Timurid Periods|viii. Il-khanid and Timurid periods]]"]</ref>. Unfortunately, these paintings give no indication of technique and may represent flatweaves, pile carpets, or even, in some instances, felts. Furthermore, extant Anatolian, Spanish, and Mamluk rugs, as well as carpets depicted in contemporary European paintings, attest that an “octagon” style was in vogue internationally at that time<ref>King, pp. 14-21, pls. 7-12, 14-16, 22-25; Mills, pp. 10-26, pls. 3, 5-7, 11-12</ref>. The floor covering that most closely resembles in design those in Timurid paintings is the zīlū, a sturdy cotton flatweave with a double-cloth structure<ref>Wulff, Crafts, pp. 210-11; Beattie, 1981, p. 171, figs. 2, 4, 6-7; see v, below</ref>. The date on a fragmentary zīlū with a waqf inscription found in the congregational mosque at Maybod, near [[Yazd Rug|Yazd]], has been interpreted as 808/1405<ref>Afšār, pls. 44-45</ref>; if that is correct, this fragment would be of Timurid or [[Turkmen Rug|Turkman]] manufacture, the oldest carpet firmly attributable to Persian looms.<br>