Tabriz Rug

Tabriz Rug
Design of Tabriz Rug (Rugman)
General information
Name	Tabriz Rug
Original name	قالی تبریز
Alternative name(s)	Tabriz Carpet
Origin	Iran: East Azerbaijan
Category	City
Prime examples	Chelsea Rug in Victoria Albert Museum
Master designers	Hossein Arzhangi, Rasam Arzhangi, other Names
Technical information
Common designs	Lachak Toranj, Afshan, Vase
Common motifs & patterns	Shah Abbasi
Common colors	Red, Cream, Orange, Yellow
Dyeing method	Natural, Synthetic
Pile material	Wool, Silk
Foundation material	Cotton, Silk
Knot type	Symmetrical (Turkish)

Tabriz rugs originate from the ancient city of Tabriz, located in northwestern Iran. Tabriz is the largest producer of handmade Persian wool rugs in the world. This extremely prolific city has enjoyed a wonderful reputation as a center of Oriental culture for centuries. Although rug weaving here can be traced back to the 15th century, it was during the Middle Ages that the weavers of wool rugs began to be influenced by the work of manuscript illuminators, silk embroiderers, miniature painters, and metal workers. Curvilinear designs on wool rugs were first introduced to the courts in Istanbul by weavers. In the mid 19th century the city established itself as the market center for the exportation of Persian wool rugs to the west. Rugs are double wefted and the Turkish knot is dominant, although both Turkish and Persian knots are used.

Techniques and structures

Color and dyeing

The nineteenth-century Tabriz carpets are fashionable today in the antique trade for their designs and coloration. Strong colors generally do not exist in carpets from this period. Over the years, the red color has gradually muted to a copper color, which no other antique Oriental carpet has.

Bibliography

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