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By H. Kramer, W.E.*
About
a hundred years ago, more and more nomads began to settle in
villages. Some settled because it was no longer profitable for them to
move from one grazing ground to another. Others were forced to settle in
certain areas because they had become such a strong political force that the
ruling government wanted to be able to control them better. Still other
families decided to settle so that the children could receive an education and
the men could hold regular jobs.
In village rugs, the designer and the
weaver are usually two different people. The weaver interprets the pattern
given to her, but she is provided with a design which she must follow or the
person who has commissioned the rug won't buy it. In the past, village
weavers often added their own interpretations and were influenced by both tribal
and city motifs. Today, however, the city carpet dealer usually provides
the yarns and the design.
With the settling of many of the tribes
of Iran, village carpets became possible. At first carpet dealers
from the
city would provide small woven carpets which contained all the necessary
elements for weaving more intricate designs. These sampler carpets are
called "vagireh". Later, the patterns were painted onto graph
paper and then taken to the village to be given to the weavers. This
method is how it's done today.
Carpet dealers would travel to the villages in the tribal
areas and give the weavers these patterns and yarn. Then, after a few
months, they would return to collect the finished product.
Because the carpet dealers were coming from the cities where city designs were
in demand, they often incorporated city elements or provided city designs.
Because of this, many of the weavers forgot their traditional tribal designs, or
the traditional patterns weren't passed down from mother to daughter as in the
past.
The village looms were usually stationary, and, therefore, able to produce a
finer weave than tribal looms. They were still too rough, however, to
produce the fine curvilinear patterns like those produced on city looms.
The result of these different factors
was a product that was a hybrid or mutation. The tribal weaver living in a
village house instead of a tent had a different interpretation of the city
design. As is often the case
with hybrids, the resulting carpet was both durable, like tribal rugs, and
elegant, like city rugs. It sported
more variety in colors because more shades were available from village and city dye works.
This cottage industry today forms the backbone of weaving in Iran. Most
carpets made
today are woven in village homes. The work force of weavers
is thereby able to manage the household while providing much needed additional
income for their families. They don't have to work in factory conditions, under the
stringent factory controls or under the watchful eyes of men. They can finish in
their own time and still manage to get the dishes and household chores
done. The system negates much of the strain normally felt by working
mothers from more
industrialized nations. It also allows young girls to learn to weave.
They can help out with Mother's carpet as well as dishes and taking care of the
younger siblings.
The past achievements of village weavers
stand today in their own categories as amazing feats of design and
interpretation. Such names of yore as Sarouk, Bijar,
Bakhtiari, Heriz, Kordi, and Senna, to name but a few, owe their fame and
durability to the dedication and
skill of these village weavers.
Village
 carpets are named for the
villages from which they come. Generally, a certain pattern was
interpreted in a certain way in a certain area, so that pattern became known as
the pattern from the village by that name. Thus, names like Bijar, Sarouk,
Sultanabad and Heriz are all the names of villages. The weavers themselves
might be from different tribes, but the finished rug would bear the name of the
village where it was woven. It is for this reason that some carpets from
the same village look very different or have different characteristics which
they share with tribal techniques or color schemes. It's that hybrid
effect.
In terms of desirability in today's
market, village carpets are greatly in demand. Because there is a more
complicated pattern, a village rug can bring formality and grandeur to a room
without compromising on durability and wear. Also, the color schemes are
more closely monitored and so cater towards matching Western decor and
taste. Old village productions are highly collectible, though often hard
to come by.
*W.E.- Weaver Extraordinaire
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