DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0279
MOHAMMEDAN-PERSIAN PERIOD 187
Freedom from mechanical hardness of pattern, which charac-
terizes modern machine-made carpets, and the rich, soft colors
were secured through the careful, painstaking process by which
these rugs were made. Rug-weaving was an inherited craft
among the Persian peasants, attained through generations of
effort. Many a pattern, or perhaps the secret of making a par-
ticularly fine dye, was handed down from father to son. The wool
was obtained from the sheep which grazed on the mountain sides
of this rugged country; and the dyes, few in number, from plant
life. The loom was primitive (Pl. 72. a). When the warp had
been strung — and this required great skill, for just enough slack
must be allowed for what the weaving would take up — the
weaver would sit down on the ground with his work and begin
Fig. 86. Two Methods of Knotting a Persian Carpet. (Kendrick
and Tattersall)
putting in a horizontal row of knots (Fig. 86); then one or two
lines of weft, pressing it down firmly with a comblike implement
when he had woven several rows. Thus he continued putting in
rows of knots and weft, varying his color according to his pattern.
As the knots were of uneven length, the surface was cut, leaving
an even pile that concealed both the warp and the weft. Some
of the finest rugs have more than three hundred knots to the
square inch. The process was very slow. It has been estimated
that it would take a skilled worker about twenty-four years to
make the Ardebil Rug. In this kind of weaving irregularities and
blurred outlines are inevitable. But these are an inherent element
of charm.
In the Ardebil Rug there are no human or animal figures; but
another rug (Pl. 72. c) from the same place illustrates how these
weavers used the animal form. Lions and other animals are
Freedom from mechanical hardness of pattern, which charac-
terizes modern machine-made carpets, and the rich, soft colors
were secured through the careful, painstaking process by which
these rugs were made. Rug-weaving was an inherited craft
among the Persian peasants, attained through generations of
effort. Many a pattern, or perhaps the secret of making a par-
ticularly fine dye, was handed down from father to son. The wool
was obtained from the sheep which grazed on the mountain sides
of this rugged country; and the dyes, few in number, from plant
life. The loom was primitive (Pl. 72. a). When the warp had
been strung — and this required great skill, for just enough slack
must be allowed for what the weaving would take up — the
weaver would sit down on the ground with his work and begin
Fig. 86. Two Methods of Knotting a Persian Carpet. (Kendrick
and Tattersall)
putting in a horizontal row of knots (Fig. 86); then one or two
lines of weft, pressing it down firmly with a comblike implement
when he had woven several rows. Thus he continued putting in
rows of knots and weft, varying his color according to his pattern.
As the knots were of uneven length, the surface was cut, leaving
an even pile that concealed both the warp and the weft. Some
of the finest rugs have more than three hundred knots to the
square inch. The process was very slow. It has been estimated
that it would take a skilled worker about twenty-four years to
make the Ardebil Rug. In this kind of weaving irregularities and
blurred outlines are inevitable. But these are an inherent element
of charm.
In the Ardebil Rug there are no human or animal figures; but
another rug (Pl. 72. c) from the same place illustrates how these
weavers used the animal form. Lions and other animals are