A Persian rug is entirely handmade, which should not be confused with hand-finished, which defines a power-loomed or hand-tufted rug that is later trimmed or has a fringe attached.
Persian rugs are made in a marvellous array of designs, materials, colours, and sizes with a pile or without a pile, in the case of flatweave kilims or dhurries. The materials used are mostly wool, cotton, and silk with tribal rugs using goat and camel hair. The most ornate intricately woven rugs, i.e., those with the highest density of knots per square inch or metre, are known as City or Workshop rugs.
Loom Types
There are two types of looms – vertical and horizontal. The vertical loom is used to create 98% of all rugs designed for the floor. Pictorial or flatweave rugs are made to be hung on the wall or as bed covers or drape over furniture, and these are often woven on the horizontal loom. A vertical loom consists of two rollers made of wood or steel, which are fastened top and bottom. So, one roller is at ground level and the other at about 2-4 metres high depending on the desired rug size.
Rug Bases
The rug’s base is made by stringing the warp, which comprises cotton threads, around the two rollers. The threads are then adjusted to get the right tension. This part of the task is essential because a wrongly tensioned rug will soon lose its shape, with ripples in the pile and curved edges.
Patterns
Each weaver will have his individual pattern consistent through time, and the weaver often knows it by heart. If not, the pattern is drawn by a master designer and put to paper.
The pile materials of wool, cotton, or silk, or a combination thereof – are pre-dyed to achieve the required colour. Before the advent of synthetic dyes in Europe, weavers would extract the colours from roots, leaves, bark, berries, fruit and vegetables, stems, seeds, insects, crushed rocks, etc., to make exquisite colours. Applying the colour to the yarn was highly skilled work, and the secret knowledge passed down through the generations.
A better-quality rug has sufficient yarn dyed in a single batch to guarantee uniformity of tone throughout. Many rugs exhibit bands of differing tones as they age, known as Abrash, which shows the materials were not dyed simultaneously.
An experienced weaver who continually works on one type of rug will perform from memory and select the correct colour yarn automatically from yarn balls that hang in front of him at eye level. For a less experienced weaver, or to produce an incredibly detailed design with many colours, the pattern will be inscribed in code on paper, which again will hang at eye level.
Some small workshops making exceptionally fine and expensive rugs may employ a master weaver, always male, who will chant the colours and design to assure absolute accuracy. This saves the workers from having to look at the paper instructions.
Hand-Knotted
Each knot is tied by hand around two of the warp threads until a complete row is made. A spreader bar then separates the threads, and a horizontal weft thread is placed between them. A metal fingered claw is used to pound the weft thread to secure the knots – just as cement bonds layers of bricks.
Length of Time
Depending on the quality and size, a rug can take any length of time, from a few weeks to several years to finish. Once ready, a locking weft thread is woven either end around the warp threads, and the rug is released from the loom by cutting the warps at either end.
Horizontal Looms
A rug made using a horizontal loom is nearly always a Tribal rug made by nomadic or settled tribes in Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan. These are simpler to produce and, like vertical looms, have rollers at each end, albeit a fraction of the size. The warp threads are again strung between them. The tension is attained by hammering pegs at each corner and is achieved by experienced touch. These looms are designed for the open air and transported when new pastures are sought for the flocks. The rugs and kilims (rugs without pile) woven on these looms are far smaller and less decorative than rugs woven on vertical looms, and therefore the precision of design and colour is not so significant. This often leads to an abstract charm due to the loom’s owner’s small mistakes as the younger generations learn to weave. These rugs are finished and taken off the loom in the same way as with the vertical loom.
Finishing Touches
When removed from the loom, the rug is a somewhat rough article and needs to be finished. The sides are fastened by a selvedge of wool or cotton wrapped around two or four of the outer warp threads. This stops the rug from unravelling or fraying.
The rug is put inside a large metal latticed drum, which rotates over a pit and removes the excess wool and dust. After this, it is washed in a stream or soaked with water on a concrete platform and brushed. Tribal rugs may be cleaned by beating them with a stick.
Once thoroughly dried in the sun, the pile must be clipped. An expert always does this as a layman could ruin the rug. Traditionally clipping was done with handheld shears, which demanded a strong forearm and a keen eye. These days electric shears are used, which makes the job far quicker but still requires skill. The shaggy pile is now lower – the lower the pile, and therefore the thinner the rug, the better the quality. A rug with the most knots per square inch will not reveal gaps as a lesser quality item will.
Many poorer quality rugs are given a final wash in chemicals that change their final appearance. This can provide a washed-out bleached effect, a silky shine, or a tea leaf sepia tone. A better rug should never be altered in this way. It must look outstanding due to the materials’ original quality. Chemicals have a damaging effect on a rug.
The rug is now fit to show in Lahore, Bhadohi, or Tehran, or be shipped to a showroom in London, New York, or Paris.