Persian and Indian Rugs
For centuries the world's finest rugs have been woven in Persia, where the best wool for the purpose is grown. The designs are both interesting and intricate, and based mainly…
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“Persian and Indian Rugs” from Decorative Textiles by George Leland Hunter, 1918.
For centuries the world's finest rugs have been woven in Persia, where the best wool for the purpose is grown. The designs are both interesting and intricate, and based mainly on flower and leaf forms, although in the sixteenth century many animals appeared, especially in the so-called "hunting rugs." The designs of Persian rugs are not detached, as in so many Chinese rugs, but usually tied together into all-over patterns that usually cover every inch of the surface with detail. The designs are also peculiarly suited for interpretation in rug texture, being flat without relief shading, and also being vivid with life, though not naturalistic to the extreme extent of many ancient Indian, and eighteenth century Chinese rugs. Compared, however, with Bokhara rugs and Caucasian rugs and Turkish rugs, Persian rugs have designs that are full of curves and decidedly naturalistic. Except in a few isolated groups, like the rugs of Shiraz, rectilinear forms of the Caucasian variety never appear.
Plate 1: Persian Prayer Rug, Sixteenth Century. Images from book.
Among design motifs often found in Persian rugs are the Pear, the Shah Abbas, the Mina Khani, the Guli Hinnai, the Herati. The figure that on cashmere shawls has been known in America and England for more than a century as the cone, because apparently representing the cone of a pine tree, now gets a new name from everybody who writes about Oriental rugs. It is variously called the pear, the palm, the palmette, the river loop, the loop, the crown jewel, the flame. A common form of this "cone" or "pear" is shown in the Serebend illustrated on Plate XIII. The real basis of the motif is probably a leaf.
Plate 2: Persian Rug from the Sixteenth Century.
The famous Shah Abbas motif (Plate IX) consists of a large and mature but not quite fully opened flower, seen from the side, and often framed by the outlines of a large and symmetrical pointed leaf. This motif bears a curiously close resemblance to the pomegranate forms so much used in Western Europe hi the fifteenth century and the early part of the sixteenth. It appears both in the border and in the field of the ancient rug illustrated on Plate III.
The Mina Khani motif shows a large diamond-shaped figure with bright flowers seen-from-the-face, on the vertices and in the centre five of them in all. (See description of Plate V below.) The Guli Hinnai motif shows a central stalk parallelled by three blossoms on each side.
Plate 3: Ancient Ispahan Rug, Showing Chinese Cloud Bands.
The famous Herati or "fish" pattern consists of a rosette between two slightly curved leaves. This is sometimes called the "twin fish" pattern because of the resemblance of the leaves to the backbone of a fish. The Herati motif appears in both the border and the field of the Sehna rug illustrated on Plate XII. It also appears in the field of the small Fereghan rug illustrated on Plate XIV, but here is grouped in sets of four around small diamond-shaped medallions, the vine outlines of which are much accentuated.
Plate 4: Persian Rug of the Seventeenth Century.
Most Persian rugs, ancient as well as modern, have cotton warps, and consequently fringes that are comparatively unimportant. The principal Persian rugs with woollen warps are those that bear the name Shiraz, Kurdistan, Karadagh, or Bijar. Persian rugs that are tied with the Sehna knot, so called from the Persian city of Sehna, are those that bear the names Sehna, Kirman, Khorassan, Kashan, Fereghan, Saruk and Serape. The other varieties of rugs made in Persia are usually tied with the Ghiordes knot. Rugs tied with the Sehna knot are apt to have a shorter pile and a less silky surface, but design of greater intricacy and more definitely outlined.
Plate 5: An Extraordinarily Large Karadagh Rug.
A splendid example of Karadagh is the one belonging to Mr. Howard Greenley illustrated in colour on Plate V. The name comes from the Karadagh Mountains in the extreme northwestern part of Persia where the rugs are woven, close to the Caucasian border. So it is not strange that Karadagh rugs often show rectilinear and geometrical forms resembling those of Daghestan and other Caucasian rugs. The rug before us, however, with the Shah Abbas motif in the field and a variant form of the Mina Khani motif in the border, and with its rich and brilliant colouration, suggests at once the Kurdistan runners that have their long fields filled with the Mina Khani motif.
Persian Animal Rugs
Of all the ancient rugs shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, I personally like best the ancient sixteenth century animal rug illustrated in Plate VI. It was formerly in the famous Yerkes Collection, from which it was purchased at the auction sale in 1910 for the Metropolitan Museum at a cost of $15,200. The pile is of wool, but both warp and weft are of silk, thus making possible the extraordinarily fine texture of four hundred and eighty knots to the square inch. The length is 10 feet 11 inches, the width 5 feet 10 inches. The ground of the field is red, the border ground dark blue.
Plate 6: Ardebil Animal Rug.
The rug is sometimes called the Ardebil rug because, like the famous larger piece at the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington, it is believed once to have adorned the floors of the Ardebil Mosque. The main motif of the rug before us, ten times repeated in two parallel rows, shows a lion and a jackal attacking a black Chinese deer spotted with yellow; and the intervening spaces are filled with wild boars and other animals and with many floral forms, some of them peonies executed partly in silver. The main band of the border is a fascinating composition of Chinese cloud band combined with flowers and with vine tracery.
Another sixteenth century Persian animal rug also purchased for the Metropolitan Museum from the Yerkes Collection is the one illustrated on Plate VII. The middle band of the border of this rug is unusually wide, and the guard stripes particularly narrow, thus reminding one very definitely of the Renaissance borders that appear on Flemish tapestries woven in the sixteenth century and the early part of the seventeenth. The unusually large medallion in the centre has itself a wide border of birds in red and blue, perched on slender stems connecting floral motifs on yellow ground; and a field of floral and vine tracery in red, bright yellow and blue, on dark blue ground. The corners of the main field of the rug show flower and fruit trees, with birds in the branches, on dark green ground. The rest of the main field is covered with numerous animals, the Shah Abbas motif, and numerous florals in orange, dark blue and other colours, on a red ground. This rug is a magnificent illustration of the extraordinary success with which the Persians were able to use not only brilliant colours, but many brilliant colours in close contrast, toning and blending them into rich but gentle harmonies.
Plate 7: A Sixteenth Century Persian Rug.
In the Altman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum are three large rugs with silk pile woven in Central Persia, probably in the neighbourhood of Kashan, in the last quarter of the sixteenth century.
In each square inch of these three rugs there are from five to seven hundred knots. The one that is illustrated on Plate VIII has a field extraordinarily rich with animal and floral forms, and a border of large flowers and beautiful birds artfully combined into running decoration. The outer band of the border is made up of flowers combined with the Chinese cloud band.
Plate 8: A Sixteenth Century Persian Silk Rug.
On Plate IX is illustrated the texture of a sixteenth century Persian rug, that although still in comparatively good condition, has been worn down, until the weft shines in bright cross lines through the figures of the Shah Abbas and other florals, and of the birds and animals.
Chiselled Effects
At this point it is interesting to note that different dyes are apt to affect the wool differently, and that the wool dyed in some colours wears down faster than wool dyed in other colours. Consequently, in a large proportion of ancient rugs the parts of the design in one colour will stand out high above the parts of the design in another colour, so that a relief, or chiselled effect is produced.
Plate 9: Portion of a Sixteenth Century Persian Rug, showing worn down texture.
Compartment Rugs
Another extraordinary sixteenth century Persian rug acquired for the Metropolitan Museum from the Yerkes Collection is the one with "compartment fields" illustrated on Plate X. The price paid for this rug was $19,600. The pile is of wool, with 600 knots to the square inch, while the weft is of silk and the warp of cotton and silk. The size is 16 feet 4 inches by 11 feet 2 inches. There is a similar rug in the Commercial Museum at Lyons, and another similar one is illustrated in the great Vienna Rug Book. The nine main compartments are large rounded octagons picturing the traditional fight of the Chinese dragon and phoenix, on blue ground. Tangent to each main compartment are eight radiating escutcheon panels alternating red and blue, the former containing Chinese ducks, the latter vine tracery. Between the blue escutcheon and alternating with the large octagons, are smaller octagons, each with four running lions on blue ground. The background of the main field of the rug is patterned with vine ornament, florals and Chinese cloud bands, in blue, orange and red. The main band of the border has a ground of dark blue, and consists of rounded octagons alternating with round-ended rectangles, the octagons richly decorated with flowers, and birds, and vine tracery; the rectangles with Chinese cloud bands and floral ornaments.
Plate 10: Early Sixteenth Century Rug showing compartment design.
Famous Altman Prayer Rugs
From a literary point of view, perhaps the most interesting rug in the Metropolitan Museum is the famous Prayer Rug (Plate XI) in the Altman Collection which shows Arabic and Chinese side by side. In the prayer niche of this rug hangs a mosque lamp amongst red, yellow and pink flowers, outlined in dark brown on green ground. Below are graceful flowing trees in yellow with pink blossoms, and other flowers introduced in pink, yellow and dark red. Filling the parts of the field not occupied by the niche are vine and leaf forms in brown and in white, on claret red ground. The rug has two borders; the outer one, the wider. The inner border consists of an Arabic inscription in red on yellow, supplemented with leaf pattern below. The inscription reads: "May the blessing of God rest upon us all. There is no God but Allah. Mohammed is the Prophet of God. Ali is the Saint of God. God, The Exalted says: 'Verily God and His Angels shower their blessings upon the Prophet. Oh, ye faithful, send your blessings unto Him as well as also your salutations unto Him.' " The outer border consists of four rounded octagons patterned with forms that suggest archaic Chinese lettering; and five rectangles with rounded ends containing quotations in Arabic from the Koran in black on grey; and four other rectangles containing Chinese cloud bands, florals and vine traceries in red, yellow and black on orange and white grounds. This rug formerly belonged to the Bardini Collection in Florence, is five feet five inches by three feet three inches, and was illustrated by Doctor F. R. Martin in his splendid book entitled, "Oriental Carpets."
Plate 11: Sixteenth Century Persian Prayer Rug with Arabic inscriptions.
Sehna, Serebend, and Fereghans
A typical Sehna rug is that illustrated in Plate XII. It has the Herati motif, in both border and field; pile of silky wool clipped very short, and a very fine texture. Instead of the Herati design, some Sehnas have the pear motif or a central diamond or medallion. Whilst Sehnas excel other modern Oriental rugs in fineness of weave, the knots are tied so tight that the edges of the rug are likely to curl and pucker. Warp and weft are usually of cotton, but sometimes of silk. Sehnas have narrow end selvages, finished with loose fringe.
Plate 12: A typical Sehna Rug.
One of the most easily recognised Persian rugs is the Serebend. A typical example is illustrated in Plate XIII. The field is filled with horizontal rows of small pear motifs, alternating in direction. The border stripes are narrow and numerous. Serebends are less exquisite in design and weave than Sehnas, but are thicker, firmer and much more durable. The fields of Serebends have a ground of dark blue or wine red.
Probably nine-tenths of all Fereghan rugs have the Ilerati motif covering the field in one form or another, although the Guli Ilinnai motif and small floral diaper designs are also found. The Fereghan rug illustrated in Plate XIV shows the Herati motif in groups of four, connected by a diamond-shaped lattice or framework of vines in between. In many respects, Fereghans resemble Sehnas; they come next to them in fineness of texture and shortness of pile.
Plate 13: Typical Serebend Rug.
Even easier to identify than Serebends are Hamadans, so called from the modern name of the Persian city that was anciently Ecbatana. Nearly all of them have an outside band of camel's-hair "in the natural," which means that it is undyed and light brown or coffee colour in tone. Undyed camel's-hair is also often used in connection with coloured wools in the fields of Hamadan rugs. Characteristic of most of them is the two-tone trellis that backgrounds the pole medallion, as in the example on Plate XV, where only part of the rug is shown, because of its length. A pole medallion, it should be explained here, is a medallion with extensions. The pile of Hamadan rugs is comparatively thick, and the weave comparatively coarse.
Mosul
Although the city of Mosul is not in Persia but in Turkey—to be exact, on the Tigris two hundred and twenty miles northwest of Bagdad, and near the ruins of the ancient Nineveh, capital of Assyria—Mosul rugs are properly classed with those of Persia. The rugs marketed at Mosul by nomadic weavers from the north, from the east, from the south, are the products of many different races and naturally show great diversity of character. Indeed, the only characteristic common to all of them is the nature of the weave, though they are prone to yellow and russet hues and the wool is soft and lustrous. Many Mosul rugs show Caucasian motifs, such as stars and latch-hooks; others show Kurdish patterns, with but little change from the way in which they appear in Kurdistan rugs. Always the Caucasian motifs are rounded and softened in the Persian direction, whilst usually the Persian designs are coarsened and straightened in the Caucasian direction. A large proportion of the Mosul rugs now on the market have a cotton warp. The Mosul rug illustrated on Plate XVI shows the conflict of Caucasian and Persian influences.
Plate 14: Small Fereghan Rug.
Saruks are often spoken of as the modern Ispahans. The reason why is clear from the nature of the design shown on Plate XVII. Fortunately, Saruks have an exquisite and velvety texture quite worthy of the designs that they interpret. They are woven in the same part of Persia as Sehnas and Fereghans and, like the Sehnas, sometimes curl on account of the tightness of the weave.
Plate 15: Part of a long Hamadan Rug.
Kashan is the centre of the Persian silk industry. A fine example of the silk rugs produced there is the one shown on Plate XVIII.
Plate 16: One of the many types of Mosul Rug.
Kirman and Tabriz
The wool of southern Persia is particularly soft and fine. Consequently one should not be surprised at the softness of the texture of Kirman rugs. The example illustrated on Plate XIX is a typical modern Kirman with medallion centre, and the greyish tinge that is characteristic of modern Kirmans. Especially in the blues and in the greens is this greyness attractive, and almost lends iridescent effects to the surface. The Kirman illustrated on Plate XX is an antique woven over a century ago. The pile has been worn short but the colours, especially the exquisite roses, are as fresh as ever. This rug is a wonderful creation, thickly patterned with floral forms that leave not a fraction of an inch of the plain ground which is so much affected by those modern decorators who lack colour sense.
Plate 17: Superb Saruk Rug, with “tree of life” design.
The small rug illustrated on Plate XXI is a typical Tabriz (named from the city of Tabriz, the ancient Tauris, in extreme north-western Persia), in texture but not in pattern. The grounds of
Tabriz rugs are apt to be plain, between the corners and the centre medallion of the main field. Some twenty years ago the manufacture of Oriental rugs was begun at Tabriz with the idea of producing there the equal of Kirman rugs, but the hardness of the wool, and the stiffness of the designs supplied to the weavers by European designers, or designers under European control, resulted unsatisfactorily. Rugs were produced of exceedingly fine texture that curled and even broke. The prices were necessarily high because of the fineness of the weave and the expense of the management, but the American public preferred, and rightly, the coarser and softer texture and less formalised designs of Gorevan and Serape rugs from the Herez district.
Plate 18: Intricately Patterned All-Silk Kashan Rug.
Khorassan
Khorassans are woven in the Province of Khorassan that occupies the northeastern part of Persia, and once included also the western part of Afghanistan in which is situated Herat, now the capital of Afghanistan. The wool of Khorassan, like the wool of Kirman, is soft and silky, and Khorassan rugs, like Kirman rugs, have a greyish iridescence of surface that is most pleasing, but the background of the field is in dark tones, instead of light tones—usually in purplish blues or blue-blacks. Especially interesting from the point of view of design is the Khorassan rug illustrated on Plate XXII, with its flower-filled vases that have been combined into an all-over pattern, so delightfully as to secure all the virtues of repeat, without any of its weaknesses.
Plate 19: Typical Modern Kirman Rug.
The rug illustrated on Plate XXIII is full of Caucasian motifs, and makes one wonder how saw-toothed and straight-line effects of this type ever wandered from the western shore of the Caspian Sea down into southern Persia. For the rug before us was woven not in the Caucasus, but at Shiraz. The story goes that the Shiraz weavers actually are Caucasians, or rather descendants of Caucasians, having been brought here from their native land by a victorious Shah of Persia. Characteristic of Shiraz rugs are not only their Caucasian rectilinear motifs, sometimes modified by Persian influence, but also the edges overcast in bright contrasting colours, and the wide end selvages embroidered in bright colours. Of course, the warp is of wool, and the end fringes interesting.
Plate 20: Ancient “Flower Garden” Kirman Rug.
Indian Rugs
The weaving of Oriental rugs in India became important in the latter half of the sixteenth century, when Persian weavers were imported and Shah Akbar, following the example of Persian princes, set up looms in his palace. A number of other Indian dignitaries imitated his example, and rugs of the highest type were woven, in designs that were based on Persian designs, but were apt to be much more naturalistic, as is illustrated by the splendid examples in the Altman Collection in the Metropolitan Museum. In the last half of the nineteenth century, however, the industrial development of India under English rule, and especially the introduction of rug weaving into the jails, substituted modern factory for primitive methods, and twenty-five years after the International Exhibition of 1851 in London, where Indian rugs of extraordinary merit had been exhibited, the rugs in India had become a factory product. Western designs had been introduced, bad dyes were common, and prison-made fabrics flooded the English market. It is only fair to add that during the last few years the quality of India rugs has greatly improved, and reproductions not only of Persian but also of Chinese rugs, are made that compare favourably with the originals.
Plate 21: Small Tabriz Rug.
Plate 22: Khorassan Rug with “Vase” design.
Plate 23: Quaint and Curious Shiraz Rug.
Plate 24: The Great Ardebil Rug in the South Kensington Museum.
Plate 25: Persian Early Seventeenth Century Rug.
Hunter, George Leland. Decorative Textiles. The Dean-Hicks Company, 1918.
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