Qom

Qom, is located in a distance of 140 kilometers of Tehran and in the way of Kashan, Arak and Isfahan near to salt lake. Qom city that is an ancient and saint city for Shias, has a lot of minarets through the sky. There is no trustworthy information about the built manner of this city; Arab historian, Yaqoot, described like this that there was an important city before Arabs attack and was named Kumandan and Arabs changed its name to Qom. According to other resources, its building returns to Abbasian era. In seventeenth century a shrine with golden dome was built that belongs to Hazrat Masoume, the seventh Shia’s Imam’s daughter and it’s her tomb that passed away in year 816 A.D in Qom. Besides that, very important seminary is active in this city and has global fame. Rug weaving is a new activity returns to years of twenty, the primer of this activity were also some of the merchants from Kashan and Arak. Rug weaving was happening in house areas and in each hose there is a rug loom that women were weaving rugs on them in their free times. Upmost used wool was brought from Khorasan to Qom and was spin and colored in Qom. The favorite color spectrum of this area’s weavers, was light colors and they preferred the green color and different kinds of goldenrod.

The warp kind is cotton yarn and two wefts crosses through the texture wates that they stretch the one with more thickness and the other one that is in cobalt-blue, gray or beige stretch limp and it’s totally visible at the rug backside. Using silk is also common that is used for both of warp and pile that silk is used for more shine and more design feature. For weft always cotton yarn is used that cause the hardness and strength and more thickening of rug. The knot is usually asymmetric kind and sometimes paired. The knot density is usually high but it should be noticed that Qom rugs have different scale of delicacy that is variable from 1600 to 10000 knots in each square decimeter. A common property among the whole rugs of Qom, is woven fringes on the both side of the rug that these two strings are connected and woven together such a way that is one string.

The pattern used in Qom rugs, is a combination design and same as places that weaving is a new activity in them, patterned from common designs in more important rug weaving centers of Iran like Kashan, Tabriz and especially Isfahan. The weavers of Qom tried to do their bests technically and do weaving perfectly to confront other named cities productions. Among the most common designs, traditional bergamot designs and prayer rugs with trees and birds inside the sanctuary can be pointed. Besides flowering designs on the background and also bush or Farang flower in busy background, ZeloSoltan and illustrated designs, mostly were common with hunt scenes. At last it should prized the opportunity and also name an ancient design “Baqi” that is used by Qom weavers in rugs: background is divided to regular quarters that flower pots, willow tree and some trees are seen in them. The margin design is the combination of what is seen in background and also includes Herati pattern and somehow simplified roses. In newer rugs, using bird’s pictures is common. The rugs similar to Qom rugs but with much lower delicacy is weaving in villages around like HajiAbad, Kahak and Neyzar.