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.

History

Tabriz is the capital of the East Azerbaijan Province in northwestern Iran. It is an ancient city that was occupied by Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE), who made it the capital of the region. It was destroyed by an earthquake in the eighth century CE, and was rebuilt later that century.
Tabriz had an important strategic location and was conquered by many empires and tribes over the centuries; the Mongols, Timurids, and Turkmens have each historically occupied the city. In 1502, the Persian Safavids recaptured it and made it their capital. The Safavid Empire had a significant interest in holding Tabriz to protect the region against attacks from neighboring countries. During this era, the city and population both grew, and Tabriz developed a strong Persian culture in art and architecture. The Safavids opened the first school of art in Tabriz for painting, ceramics, and weaving carpets and textiles. Under Safavid rule, Tabriz was conquered twice by the Ottoman Empire, in 1514 and 1534. The Ottomans took advantage of the art and culture of the Persian Empire by transferring thousands of great artists, architects, painters, ceramists, and rug wcayers to western Anatolia (Turkey). The victorious Turks thereafter established carpet weaving in Istanbul for the Ottoman court.
Tabriz carpets and weavings dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries can be found today in museums, auction galleries, antique markets, and private collections around the world.
By the late nineteenth century, Tabriz became one of Persia's most important carpet-producing centers. Many established carpet weavers began to manufacture and produce carpets for foreign export. During the carpet boom in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, famous carpet makers such as HADDAD, HADJI BABA GANJEH, and HAJ JALILI, among many others, were actively weaving rugs and carpets for European, American, and domestic markets.
Silk Tabriz carpets were made in large room-sizes during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These carpets were executed in high qualities with charming designs, and were the only carpets of their kind available in the world market. They were and are today rare in the antique market.
By 1920 another carpet boom occurred in the world market, and many Azerbaijan provincial towns and villages in Iran began to weave carpets. The production grew dramatically in the cities surrounding Tabriz, such as KHOY, MARAGHEH, and MARAND, but the carpets were woven in a lower grade quality. These types were targeted at the middle class in Europe as well as Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

Materials

Foundation and Pile

They are woven with cotton or silk foundations and a wool pile. Tabriz weavers also began to produce classical sixteenth-century-style silk foundation and silk pile rugs and carpets.

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.

Motifs and patterns

The designs have medallion, allover patterns, and Hunting motifs. The carpets are floral, with very fine details, and are of a high quality.
Tabriz is recognized for weaving a wide range of designs far exceeding any other weaving center. The designs made have either an Open Field with a center medallion, a medallion and design elements in a decorated field, or an allover pattern. Classical styles such as the Boteh (paisley), Garden, Herati (fish), Lattice, Mihrab (prayer arch), Shah Abbas, and pictorial patterns from Persian tradition were woven for the field and border.

Weaving techniques

the carpets have The Turkish (symmetric) knot was always used during this weaving period.

Bibliography

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