Kerman
The town itself, as well as around fifty towns, villages and oases situated in desert and steppe country, has a thriving carpet industry. The existence of such an industry as early as the Safavid period is shown by contemporary travellers' accounts. As elsewhere in Persia, carpet weaving declined during the 18th century and was revived during the second half of the 19th, since when Kerman carpets, particularly those woven in world markets, especially in the United States. Among the smaller towns of the province which make carpets under the 'Kerman' name, some of the more important are Zarand, Mahan and Ravar.
Size: room size carpets as well as smaller rugs are included in the versatile Kerman ranges; unusually large formats have been made on commission from early times.
Colours: recent productions for the western market has often been woven in pastel colours including lime green, pink, ivory and grey-blue shades. Old and antique Kerman rugs dyed with natural dyes typically have strong red or red-blue tones.
Foundation: warps and wefts are of cotton; the latter typically have three shoots between rows of knots, the first and third straight, the second wavy.
