About Tabriz Rugs
Tabriz is an ancient city in north-western Iran, and the
most prolific of all carpet centres. The quality in their
carpets is generally exceptional, with most on a base of
fine cotton, but sometimes on pure silk. There are many
unique designs but typically the pattern in a Tabriz rug
is filled with dense floral motifs, large palmettes,
vases, or vivid hunting scenes or pictorials in the
field. These can be with or without a medallion, and
geometric designs are also seen. Tabriz has sub-styles as
well. These include the restrained and elegant 'Mahi' in
co-ordinated borders of subdued tones that fit in
anywhere; the Naqsheh, with its plethora of pinks on
beige, or very occasionally, black; and the wild but
beautiful Tabatabaie, always in touches of orange, lemon
green and beige. The finer Naqsheh and Mahi are mostly in
highly-priced Kurk wool, and silk is often used to
outline lavishly the highlights of the rug.
History & Construction
Tabriz is probably the most prolific carpet-producing
center in the world, and certainly one of the oldest.
This enchanted city was established more than a thousand
years ago. After many invasions, occupations and wars,
Tabriz took the ancient techniques of the past and
created a huge rug-exporting industry. The finest era of
Persian rug weaving was the Safavid Dynasty (1499 -
1722), when the Safavids overthrew the Turks who had
occupied Tabriz. They gave the city one of the first
Royal workshops, making it the artistic center of Persian
culture. In spite of all the later conquests and
political restructurings, Tabriz managed to keep these
ancient traditions alive. Today, many rugs produced in
Tabriz emulate the artististic heritage of the Persian
Safavid carpet, and when a designer in any part of the
world wants to commission a certain pattern to be
hand-woven, Tabriz is the city that he visits. Attesting
to their pride in producing fine carpets, the
master-weavers of Tabriz often weave their signature into
a part of the carpet's border. These signatures can, of
course, be found on extremely fine rugs made in other
cities, but a signature on the 'ceremonial' border of a
Tabriz Naqsheh is the ultimate in formality and
sophistication. The material used for the pile of these
rugs are wool, silk, or a combination of the two. A
beautiful blend of fine Kurk wool and silk is the most
common in a fine Tabriz, with wool only used in those of
average quality. In the very finest carpets, the
foundation of the rug is pure silk instead of cotton, and
some even have 18 or 24 karat gold threads woven into the
foundation, with 300 to 800 KPSI not being uncommon. The
only rugs that can be compared with a fine Tabriz are
Isfahans, Kashans, Kermans, Qums, and Nains. Most
spectacular are the Nagsheh (some of the many hundreds of
beautiful patterns are still owned by private families),
the intricate, restrained Mahi (the Decorator's carpet),
or the magnificent Dome, depicting the internal
architecture of a mosque.
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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