Traditional and Modern Rugs in Heriz and Bakhshayesh

In the northeast of Tabriz , there is a village area called Heriz and Bakhshayesh, with many weaving centers, which were very important in the 19th century. Many modern rugs are still woven there today, often made using traditional methods and designs.

Although local weaving tradition goes back a lot further but there isn’t any precise information on products which were made before the 19th century to help us to concentrate on weaves rugs with geometrical patterns and local wool. Since the beginning of the 19th century we’re seen many changes in rug production in this region, concerning of trading companies which had a branch in Tabriz and in village areas around the city and used cheap work force to produce and export worthy rugs.

So, many workshops were made to replicate rugs which were popular in Iran. The kind of rug with a central medallion(toranj) and flowerish maze like design. However, the local workforce didn’t have the artistic talent to read and understand complex design which were used in city workshops .

In the meantime, Tabrizian merchants used them to work on new designs, were some old design which were familiar to the local weavers.

Therefore some modern rugs were woven which were completely different from the delicate design of Iran’s central region, because the patterns and geometrical shapes which were used in those rugs were too simple and hollow.

The medallions used in Heriz rugs were like simple stars which were extended to the rugs borders.

On the ground, delicate pedicles are seen, named Grec, which are bent toward the corners and some flowers and some serrated leaves are attached to them.

19th century Heriz rugs were woven with sleek wool and they have had symmetric knots with density of 600 to 1200 knots in 30square meter at the beginning then density have increased gradually.

At first , as regularity rugs have had density of 600 to 900 knots in 30 square meter . However the rugs which belong to the end of that century have density of 1000 to 1500 knots in 30 square meter.

In the late 19th century , traditional painting method which used madder root to extract pink color , was replaced with Swedish synthetic dyes.

Even brick-red color which was extracted from Madder root and was one of the main features in Herizrugs, was replaced with a synthetic dye in the late 19th century.

The abundance of these colors and their low cost and the use of skilled weavers has led to its success. From the early nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, delicate rugs were made of silk, which had very diverse designs.

The elegance of the decorative design and the evolution of the weaving methods justify the prevalence of this theory, which belonged to workshops directly managed by the masters of Tabriz.

Heriz Silk rugs has silk warp, weft and knot, and are extremely subtle and light. Wefts’ color is white and have had imaginary designs. The carpets with flower vases and trees, such as the spokesman’s tree (AghajDaneshan), and other designs which were derived from the designs in seventeenth century (Safavid period and the Mongol India), were so common there were also painted samples..

1920s were flourishing decade in production. Rugs in large dimensions with colorful bright medallions were being woven and exported to the US. Production of these rugs were continued until after Iran’s war.

In the following years, rug weaving continued with less elegance. The newer Heriz rugs were called Gerevan, like the neighboring city and had dark colors with simple medallion designs. Due to the thickness, pressure, and diameter of the wefts, Heriz rugs were very dense. Bilverdi rugs are similar to Gerevan rugs and are woven in a small center located northeast of Heriz near Khormaloo. Bilverdi rugs have a special structural feature that distinguishes them from Heriz rugs. These rugs actually have one weft.

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