Tabriz
Tabriz, capital of the north western Iranian province of Azerbaijan, has for centuries enjoyed a great reputation as a center of Oriental culture. The vicissitudes of its history, its development from a naturally favored oasis at the foot of the volcano Sahand, to today's commercial center, and descriptions of its artists and craftsmen could fill many volumes. Here the author can only glance at those historical milestones which provide a rough outline of its cultural contribution to the Oriental carpet.

The tradition that Tabriz was founded in the 8th century by the wife of Harun al-Raschid, will not bear historical scrutiny. The origins of the town stretch far back into antiquity.

Genghiz Khan (c.1162-1227), Timur (1336-1405) and Shah Ismail I (1501-1524), the founder of the Safavid dynasty, all conquered this fulcrum between east and west and made it into one of the great cities of their empires. But it was in Shah Abbas the Great (1586-1628) that Tabriz found its most cultured patron.

Wars and severe natural catastrophes such as devastation by earthquake, have never overwhelmed the town and its people over the centuries.

In the Middle Ages, Tabriz saw a blossoming of the fine arts which influenced the development of carpet design. Manuscript illuminators, silk embroiderers, miniature painters and metal workers all inspired the carpet weavers.

The early 18th century saw the end of the Safavid Empire and the decline of the town. Craftsmanship fell into decay. When Heinrich Jacobi of Berlin set up his Persian carpet manufacturing company (Petag) in Tabriz in 1911, only an insignificant number of the hundreds of carpet workshops of earlier days remained. His restoration of traditional wool colours and carpet patterns led to a renaissance of weaving in the town.

Sizes: large variations, up to 12 sq. m (130 sq. ft.) and above.

Colours: dark red and powerful blue predominate, with ivory as a contrasting colour.

Patterns: the typical Tabriz is a medallion carpet of baroque style appealing to the European taste in art. Patterns in endless repeats of rosettes and palmettos (the Shah Abbas pattern) are also part of the local repertoire. Designs from all other areas are also woven.

Knots: Turkish or Persian knots, up 2,500 knots per sq. dm (160 per sq. in.).

Pile: wool, generally clipped short to medium high; occasionally silk. The wool is somewhat dull, as is most obtained in Azerbaijan.

Quality: new products are generally good furnishing carpets but with some variation in quality. Old and antique traditional carpets, in most cases finely woven are rare in the trade, and antique silk carpets rarer still.

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Last Update  16 May, 2008