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 favoured oasis at the foot of the volcano Sahand, to today's commercial centre, 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 Ishmail 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.
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.
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.
Foundation: warps are mostly cotton; wefts either cotton or wool.
Knots: Turkish or Persian knots, up to 2500 knot per sq. dm (160 per sq. in.).
