Persian Carpet or Persian Rug

The Persian carpet or Persian rug is an essential part of Persian art and culture. Carpet-weaving is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished manifestations of Persian culture and dates back to ancient Persia. The Iranians were among the pioneer carpet weavers of the ancient civilizations, having achieved a superlative degree of perfection through centuries of creativity and ingenuity.  Furthermore the oldest surviving carpet in the world named Pazyric carpet which is dating back to around 2000 years ago, excavated in the Pazyryk Valley in Syberia in 1949  is showing the long history of weaving Persian Carpets. The carpet experts around the world say that the Persian carpets are the best and most exquisite carpets in the world.

Persian Carpets

Why are Persian Carpets/ Persian rugs so popular?
Answering to this question needs some information about how Iranians wave Carpets and also know about in depth Iran culture. During your tours to Iran, you might visit some traditional bazaar full of Persian Carpets or Persian rugs also with nomad tours you will be able to touch their life style, so it would make a better understand.  In the depth of Persian Carpets you can infer Iranian cultures, traditions, various lifestyles. Each Persian Carpets, rugs,… has a different story behind. But another reason for being such popular is that Woven in various types by Nomads and workshops has strong longevity, lavish textures, strong and pretty colors and elaborate design.

Persian rug

The exquisitely intricate patterns and natural dyes have rendered Iranian Carpets the most sought after hand-made weave in the world with acknowledgement of superiority in every aspect.
The skill of carpet weaving has been handed down by fathers to their sons, who built upon those skills and in turn handed them down to their offspring as a closely guarded family secret. 
The most specific characterized features of Persian Carpets is natural dyes, traditional tribal pattern, modern design of course with traditional techniques.

Persian art

In Persian language we called it "Farsh" or "Ghali". But actually Persian Carpets can be divided into 3 groups: Farsh/ Qali, Qalicheh, and nomadic carpets known as Gelim(including Zilu, meaning "rough carpet").

Persian carpet quality

Types of Persian carpets:
The Persian carpets depending on the type of weaving and designing, are classified into three different categories as follows:
•Nomadic-made carpets:
Other categories of Persian carpets are Nomadic-made carpets. The most of the Nomadic-made carpets are produced by woman weavers which they start weaving from the age of fourteen. The design of this kind of Persian carpets comes from the imagination of weaver and haven’t any specific patterns. It is interesting to know that, behind each of these carpets, a beautiful story is hidden in the warp and weft of the carpet. The most of these carpets are woven in runner size because of the nomadic lifestyle which they live in the tents.
•Village-made carpets:
The Village-made carpets have a higher quality rather than Nomadic-made carpets. This category of Persian carpets, have standard size like City-made carpets and weave in different percentage of silk yarn. The patterns of Village-made carpets are much the same as the Nomadic-made carpets. Some of these carpets are purely woven from silk, but in the comparison to Qom carpets have a lower price because they are produced without any signatures.
•City-made carpets:
The city-made carpets have the highest quality because the weavers use a fixed vertical loom that allows them to weave a higher knot density carpet. The carpet enthusiasts can find a wider range of colors and intricate designs in the city-made carpets. Furthermore, the city-made carpets are woven in different percentage of silk and wool. The important part of every city-made carpets is their signatures that are woven into one of the ends of the carpet. The signatures include the city name and producer name. It is interesting to know that, every Persian carpet have both light and dark sides simultaneously, and this difference can be seen when you move from one side to the other side of the carpet.

Persian carpet designs

The most famous city weaving are:
Tabriz Carpets, Qom Carpets, Isfahan Carpets, Kashan Carpets, Naein Carpets and Kerman Carpets.

Once you've made your purchase and are wondering how to take care of your latest buy, here are some tips on how you can keep that carpet or rug in good condition for years to come.

• Pay attention to the carpet size and shape is the first step in choosing a carpet. A right fit carpet helps you to uplift the appearance of your space. So, measuring the available space that prevents you from a carpet that’s too large or too small for space.
• Check the quality of the carpet:
  Persian carpets have top and impressive quality, and this quality is directly related to the high value of these carpets. The factors that determine the quality of the carpet are summarized in the density of the knots, the wool quality and the colors that used in it.
• The density of the knots in Persian carpets:
  The density of carpet knots is the number of knots in one square inch of carpet, which is one of the main elements of measuring the quality of carpets. In general, the density of knots in Persian carpets ranges from 30 to 300 knots per square inch. The 30-knot carpets, are thicker and less expensive and have a low quality, whereas the 300-knot carpets are very thin and high in quality.
  Note: Don’t Obsess Over the Knot Count. Because these numbers come from the average amount of knots that be counted in different parts of the carpet.
• The knots should be almost identical in size and density. Especially when buying a large size rug, fold the it in half in both directions to make sure the dimensions are accurate and for example one end is not wider than the other end. This happens in some hand woven carpets, when the knots are disparate throughout weaving process.

Persian Carpet