The Ahar rug, also called Ahar carpet, is a type of

Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( fa, فرش ایرانی, translit=farš-e irâni ) or Persian rug ( fa, قالی ایرانی, translit=qâli-ye irâni ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed January 30, 2007. also known as Iranian ...

made in the town of

Ahar Ahar ( fa, italic=yes, اهر, az, اهر) is a city and capital of Ahar County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. According to the 2016 census, Ahar was the fourth most populated city of the province with a population of 100,641 in 20,844 fam ...

Ahar County Ahar County ( fa, شهرستان اهر) is located in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The capital of the county is Ahar Ahar ( fa, italic=yes, اهر, az, اهر) is a city and capital of Ahar County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Acco ...

is the capital of

Karadag Khanate Karadagh Khanate (), was a khanate established in the 18th century, with its capital at Ahar. Khanate The khanate was founded in 1747 by Kazim khan Karadakhlu as an independent entity. Its territory had bordered with Talysh to east, Ardabil, Tab ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The name of the rug references the city and region of origin.

History

Over the last 30 years Ahar rugs have emerged as a recognizable group in the marketplace, and they are sold in many parts of Iran outside their town of origin.

Production

Ahar carpets are woven by people who live in Ahar county and by nomads in the region. They are made in Ahar city and villages including Qunigh, Arpaliq, Cheshme Vazan, GangalAbad, ZandAbad, Galandar, Bohol, Afil, Nagareh koob, Vardin, Qarajeh, Qurchi Kandi, Mazraeh-ye Hajj Abedin, Mazraeh-ye Mazare, Kaqalaq and Kalhur.

Characteristics

The design incorporates a large medallion, and it is geometric with curvilinear elements. Thus, it is characterized as a rectilinear

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

design. An Ahar rug may be recognized by its blue wefts, especially in the medallions. The background is generally some shade of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

, or

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, and the large corners, created by the spandrels, are typically

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

-colored. A standard Ahar rug measures approximately 9 x 12 feet. The rug is designed so the

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

counts are higher but no higher than many carpets that have the

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

design. The rug has a

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

base with a

knot density Knot density is a traditional measure for quality of handmade or knotted pile carpets. It refers to the number of knots, or knot count, per unit of surface area - typically either per square inch (kpsi) or per square centimeter (kpsc), but als ...

of 65 symmetrical knots per square inch. The rugs are known for their quality compared to other Persian handmade rugs. It is a distinctive

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

in the

Heriz Heriz rugs are Persian rugs from the area of Heris, East Azerbaijan in northwest Iran, northeast of Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the sixth-most ...

group of carpets. It is influenced by the Heriz and

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

styles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahar Rug Persian rugs and carpets