GLOSSARY OF ORIENTAL CARPET TERMS:

I. CARPET TYPES

AFSHAR: Afshar rugs are woven by members of the Afshar tribe who inhabit the Kerman area in south central Persia. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, some Afshar people continued a more nomadic life style, while others were sedentary and settled into villages. As such, rugs woven by the Afshar people can span a broad aesthetic range: from very abstract designs with rectilinear articulation of the elements reflecting more of the "tribal" style, to more complex and floral workshop or cottage industry pieces. Afhsar rugs are rarely, if ever, as finely woven or "sophisticated" as fine, workshop examples woven by their counterparts the Bakhtiari tribe. They only occasionally approach, in technical quality, fine examples woven by the QahQa'i tribal group located to the west in Fars province. That said, top level antique Afshar rugs have a unique character, often almost resembling tribal and village rugs from the Caucasus Mountain area of southern Russia in terms of scale and geometry. Afshar rugs tend to be on the squarish side (e.g., 4' x 5' instead of 4' x 6' or 7') and less rectangular in nature than most other rug types. They can be woven using either cotton or wool warps (the vertical foundation threads), and fine examples often feature red, wool wefts (the horizontal foundation threads). Cotton foundation examples are frequently not as old as their wool foundation counterparts. Cotton foundation examples, contrary to the trend in most rug types, tend also to be more coarsely woven than wool foundation pieces. Field colors are most typically ivory or red, with some sky blue or navy blue examples also woven. The Afshar people also wove quite a number of nice saddlebags. Design formats include "Dragon & Phoenix", center medallion and "open" or "semi-open" field, and various versions of stylized flowers. Afshar rugs tend to be somewhat sturdier in construction than QashQa'i or Khamseh rugs, and are a nice choice as furnishing rugs.

ARDEBIL CARPET, THE: The world's most famous oriental carpet, housed in The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.

BAKHTIARI: Bakhtiari rugs and carpets are woven in South Persia by the Bakhtiari tribe. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, nomadic, cottage industry and workshop pieces were woven. Saddlebags, frequently in the "Soumak" technique (a sort of brocade over a flat woven base), were also woven. Bakhtiari weavings can be seen in a wide variety of styles. The "Garden" panel design is perhaps the format most closely associated with Bakhtiari weavers. Also seen, though, are quite geometric rugs, as well as finely woven workshop rugs and carpets that can be very floral in design. Bakhtiari weavings can feature field colors ranging from blackish navy or brown to ivory. Reds tend to be saturated in nature and less to the salmon or coral side of the color spectrum than Afshar or QashQa'i rugs might typically be. A small number of, typically very finely woven, rugs were woven for Bakhtiari Khans (leaders), and these weavings, which are highly prized, are often signed and contain inscription cartouches. Bakhtiari rugs tend to be quite durable, with cotton foundation rugs typically even moreso than wool foundation pieces, and tend to be very suitable for use as furnishing carpets. James Opie's book "Tribal Rugs" is recommended reading.

BIDJAR (Bijar): Bidjar is a village in the Northwest Persian province of Kurdistan. Due to their dense construction, the colloquialism "The 'iron rug' of Persia" is sometimes applied to Bidjar weavings. Bidjar weavers tended to revel in the use of color, and the weavings from this area generally feature a wide range of deeply saturated shades. The design nomenclature is perhaps as broad as in any region in Persia, with weavings spanning an enormous range in terms of technical quality; i.e., knots per square inch, and featuring patterns such as the "Herati", "Harshang", "Mina Hani", "Split Arabesque", "Afshan", "Bid Majnun" and "Open Field" varieties. Nineteenth century Bidjar weavings tend to use wool warp and wefts threads and wool pile, often of superb quality. By the 1920s, most Bidjar weavings have cotton foundations and wool pile. Silk rugs are very rarely found; as are weavings on a silk foundation. The pile height of Bidjar carpets often reflects the fineness of weave, with coarse pieces and 20th century pieces often having thick pile, while finely woven pieces and weavings from the 19th century often having thinner pile. While synthetic dyes do appear in Bidjars dating to as early as the 1880s, the weavers continued to use predominantly natural dyes at least into the 1920s. With extremely rare exceptions, Bidjar weavings use a "Double Knot" or "Depressed Warp" construction, meaning the two contiguous warp threads around which each individual knot would be tied a stacked one on top of the other. A metal comb and a hammer are used to compact the multiple wefts threads. The combination of these factors is what produces such a strong textile.

Click here to see Bidjar Samples: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

"HALVAI": A village located near Bidjar in northwest Persia's Kurdistan province. The finest Bidjar examples, including both very fine, 19th century rugs woven on wool foundations, as well as 20th century examples, frequently with designs of Roses, are often attributed to the village of Halvai.

HEREKE: A Turkish city rug, woven with wool pile on a cotton foundation or, for many of the finest examples, woven with silk pile on a silk foundation. Many silk rugs, generally from the 20th century, contain a signature.

HERIZ (Herez): Heriz is a village in the Northwestern Persian province of Azerbaijan. Several satellite villages also produced rugs, including the villages of Bakshaish, Karaja, Ahar, Mehriban and Goravan. Antique Heriz weavings are often colloquially referred to as "Serapis"; though this is a misnomer as no such village of this name exists, and other ways of explaining what a "Serapi" is seem inevitably to fall into contradictions. The majority of weavings from this region are geometric in nature, often featuring rectilinear interpretations drawn from floral "City" carpets. The majority of Heriz weavings use a central "Medallion" format, with pendants extending from the medallion. Most medallion carpets also include corner "Spandrels". All-over designs used include the "Harshang" and "Mina Hani" designs, with "Afshan" and "Herati" occasionally appearing. Heriz carpets tend to come in sizes of 7 feet x 10  feet or larger. When smaller, "Dozar" size rugs are seen, they tend to be squar-ish in format; that is, approximately 5 x 6, rather than the 4.6 x 6.9 format seen in many other types of rugs. Heriz weavings are rarely what one would consider "finely woven", though many are of excellent general quality, with high-grade wool and well packed weaving. Synthetic dyes rarely appear in Heriz carpets woven prior to the 1940s. With the exception of carpets from Karaja, Heriz district weavings are "Double Knotted". The warps, however, are generally offset, rather than stacked directly one over the other. Carpets with this construction are referred to as having "Alternate Depressed Warps".

KERMAN (Kirman): A city in South Central Persia that produced carpets starting in the Safavid Dynasty (1502 - 1722) period. While virtually all rug types reflect stylistic changes, the rugs and carpets produced in Kerman have undergone remarkable transitions over the centuries, from the "Garden" design Safavid carpets to the medallion carpets, frequently referred to as "Ravar" or "Lavar" Kermans, from the 1860s through circa 1900, to the Savonerrie style, open field carpets of the mid 20th century. 19th century Kerman weavings generally were finely made, with thin pile and fairly light in weight for their size. Among Persian city rugs, these are one of the most delicate types; and old examples are rarely found in excellent condition. Ivory fields seemed to be favored, but navy and even sky blue examples can be seen. The red in 19th century Kerman rugs tends to be to the burgundy side of the spectrum, rather than a bright red, coral or salmon shade. These are very elegant, and somewhat subdued, carpets, quite formal in nature.

KHAMSEH: A confederation of tribes inhabiting the Shiraz area in Fars province, located in Southwest Persia. Khamseh rugs are nearly always woven on wool foundations. While exceptional examples can certainly be seen, including an important group of medallion design rugs, Khamseh rugs are typically less finely woven than their QashQa'i counterparts, and generally less valuable. Exceptions would include the afore mentioned medallion design group, as well as the famous and highly prized Khamseh "Chicken Rugs". Two great books that would cover Khamseh weavings are "Tribal Rugs" and "Tribal Rugs of Southern Persia", both by James Opie.

LILLIHAN: A village in central Persia's Sultanabad (later called Arak) province. Lillihan rugs are generally products of the early 20th century, and stylistically resemble the Sarouk rugs and carpets than were woven nearby. Unlike Sarouk weavings, which are "double knotted", meaning the warp threads are stacked one over the other, Lillihan weavings are "single knotted", with the warps situated contiguously on a flat plane. In this respect, they resemble the rugs produced in Hamadan province, located immediately to the west. Lillihans, as were most Sarouks from the early 20th century, were generally "washed and painted" when imported into the United States, meaning the reds, and sometimes other colors, were over-dyed with a deeper shade of dye which suited the prevailing taste (or lack thereof) of the era.

MEHRIBAN: Two villages of this name are located in Persia. One is in Hamadan province in the west-central part of the country. These rugs are single knotted, but densely woven, and generally of stylized floral design. Mehriban rugs from Hamadan province frequently come in coral (pinkish red) shades. The other village of Mehriban is located in the Heriz district in northwest Persia's Azerbaijan province. There were no 19th century examples from either of these villages. The majority of Heriz area Mehriban carpets seem to be from the 1930s and 1940s. They are of reasonable quality, and are decent, inexpensive furnishing carpets.

"MISHIN": A village located near Melayer in west Persia's Hamadan province. Mishin is said to have produced the finest Melayer rugs, and indeed the finest rugs woven in all of Hamadan province. These rugs can rival Senneh weavings in terms of technical quality. They represent one of the great values in antique Persian rugs, as the association with other types of Hamadan rugs can serve as a negative in terms of their reputation. This is certainly unfair to Mishin weavings, and arguably to many Hamadan weavings. It does, however, sometimes result in an opportunity to get a superb rug at a discount compared to many other types of Persian rugs of comparable quality.

"SERAPI": A colloquial term for antique carpets woven in the Heriz district of Northwest Persia's Azerbaijan province. Please see our article on "Serapi" carpets that was published in "Antiques and the Arts Weekly" in November 2007. This can be found in the "Articles" section of our website.

II. SIZES:

RUG: An oriental rug smaller than 6 feet in width and 9 feet in length is often referred to as a "Rug", instead of a "Carpet".

CARPET: An oriental carpet larger than 6 feet in width and 9 feet in length is often referred to as a "Carpet" instead of a "Rug".

MAT: A small rug, approximately 2 feet by 3 feet in size.

ZARONIM: A small rug, approximately 3 feet by 5 feet in size.

DOZAR: A rug generally measuring between 4 to 5 feet in width and 6 to 7 feet in length.
For instance, a BÅidjar rug measuring 4'6" in width and 6'9" in length would be referred to as a  "Dozar" size Bidjar.

KELLEYI: A rug or carpet reflecting the classical preference for a length close to twice the width. Fox example, a Bidjar weaving measuring 6 x 12 would be referred to as a Bidjar "Kelleyi".

III. REGIONS:

ANATOLIA: The large region of Turkey to the east of Istanbul.

AZERBAIJAN: The province in extreme Northwest Persia. Also, the region of the Caucasus Mountain area north of Persian Azerbaijan. Key weaving centers include the city of Tabriz and the villages of Heriz, Karaja, Bakshaish, Serab and Souj Bulagh.

KURDISTAN: A Province in Northwest Persia. Also, to Kurdish people, a section of Eastern Iraq and a section of eastern Turkey. Key rug weaving villages include Bidjar and Senneh.

FARS: a Province in Southwest Persia. Shiraz is the principal rug collection city in this province. Rugœs are woven here by the Qash'Qai and Khamseh tribes.

PERSIA: The former name for modern day Iran.

CAUCASUS: The mountainous area in the southern region of Russia to the west of the Caspian Sea; as well as Armenia and non-Persian Azerbaijan. Kazak, Shirvan, Kuba, Daghestan, Genje, Talish and Karabagh rugs were woven in the Caucasus.

IV. DESIGN TERMINOLOGY:

MEDALLION: A specific design appearing in single form in a "Central Medallion" format carpet or in repeat form in some "All-Over" design carpets.

SPANDRELS: The corner brackets usually seen in carpets featuring a prominent central "Medallion".

MAJOR BORDER: The largest border surrounding the "Field" of an oriental carpet.

MINOR or GUARD BORDER: A smaller border generally appearing on both the inside and outside of a "Major Border". Carpets often feature multiple guard borders.

PENDANT: A design element, often in the shape of an anchor or palmette, generally extending lengthwise from a central medallion.