|
Persian Substyles
Afshar, Ardabil,
Bakhtiari, Bijar, Esfahan, Farahan, Hamadan, Heriz, Joshaghan, Kashan, Kerman, Malayer, Mashad, Nain, Qashghai, Qum, Ravar, Sarab, Saruk, Senneh, Serapi, Shiraz, Tabriz, Varamin
Shiraz
Shiraz is the capital city of the Fars province in southwestern Iran. Few rugs are woven in this city; however, Shiraz is a major trading center for rugs of the nearby towns and villages as well as the rugs woven by nomadic tribes of the province such as the Qashghais. Since these rugs are traded in Shiraz, sometimes they are labeled and sold as Shiraz rugs.
Return to Top
Qashghai
Qashghai rugs are made by the Qashghai tribeswomen of the Fars province in southwestern Iran. The Qashghai are a tribal federation of different ethnic backgrounds comprising of Arabs, Kurds, Lurs, and Turks who sell their rugs through Shiraz, the capital city of the province. Qashghai rugs are among the most beautiful and popular nomadic rugs made today.
Qashghai designs are bold, colorful, and almost always geometric. The influence of Turkoman and Caucasian styles can clearly be seen in their designs. One characteristic that shows the Caucasian influence and helps in identifying Qashghai rugs is that shapes are commonly superimposed. Some of their designs include boteh, diamond panels, diamond or hexagon shapes, floral, and animal (birds are common) or human motifs in a repeating all-over layout. However, the most common designs have a medallion layout. Medallions come in diamond, hexagon or three vertically connected diamond shapes. An interesting characteristic of Qashghai medallions is that sometimes a smaller diamond or square shape inside the central medallion is surrounded by four hooks. Sometimes, this characteristic can be seen in all-over motifs as well. A unique Qashghai design is the hebatlu, which consists of a centerpiece and a shape of the same or smaller size identical to the centerpiece in each corner of the rug. Usually the centerpiece and the identical shapes are woven in white.
Qashghais also weave a special type of Pictorial called gabbeh. Gabbeh rugs are decorated with small geometric caricature-like animals, birds and human figures which are sparsely placed on the field. The pile on these rugs is clipped very high. A famous gabbeh design is called the Lion Gabbeh, which consists of one or two large Lions or few smaller ones laid out horizontally. Sometimes the lion(s) is/are woven on a plain background and other times the field is crowded with floral or other animal motifs.
The colorful palette of the Qashghai rugs is dominated by deep reds and blues, ocher, yellow, green and white. The Qashghai also weave kelims, bags, and saddlebags. Although they weave a variety of sizes, larger size rugs are not common.
Similar to other nomads, Qashghais mainly weave rugs for their daily use or as dowry. They weave their rugs on horizontal looms with wool foundation. However, Qashghis who have settled in villages and towns make rugs on cotton foundations.
Return to Top
|
