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The historic city of Isfahan has long been one of the centers for the production of the famous Persian rug. Weaving in Isfahan flourished in the Safavid Era. But when the Afghans invaded Iran, which ended the Safavid rule, the craft also became stagnant, Iran Review wrote.
However, in the 1920s, weaving was again taken seriously by the people of Isfahan. They started to weave Safavid designs and once again became one of the most important nexus of the Iranian rug weaving industry.
Isfahani rugs and carpets today are highly favored in world markets, with many customers in western countries. They usually have ivory backgrounds with blue, rose and indigo motifs.
Often having very symmetrical designs, the Isfahani carpets usually have a single medallion surrounded with vines and palmettos. These rugs and carpets usually are of excellent quality.
The city of Isfahan is now a world heritage site and produces what are arguably the most consistently fine wool pile rugs made anywhere in the world today. Their quality may be matched by individual items from the other major Persian workshops, but Isfahan produces far fewer poor quality rugs.
Isfahan’s rugs are knotted on either silk or cotton foundations, with up to 400 Persian knots per square inch, using exceptionally good quality wool for the pile, which is normally clipped quite low.
In contemporary designs, the palette is normally more pastel and technical perfection is generally of greater importance than artistic flair.
Contemporary Isfahani rugs are extremely attractive and the subduing of the palette, particularly the elimination of strong reds, makes them more compatible with Western decorative schemes.
A range of traditional designs are still used, including Shah Abbasi, vase, tree of life and pictorial schemes, but the most popular composition is based on a circular central medallion (derived from the famous Shah Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan) set against an elegantly sculpted field decorated with intricately purling vine palmetto and floral motifs.
The most famous name in Isfahan rugs is that of the late Haj Aqa Reza Seirafian and his seven sons and first grandson. But Isfahan is more than just the Seirafians; noted masters include the great Master Ahmad Archang, whose work is currently being exhibited in the National Rugs Museum in Tehran.
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