Author Archives: awilkins

Probably the worlds most famous Persian carpet is known as the Ardabil carpet. One of a pair of Persian carpets purchased in 1890 by a British carpet broker from the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in Ardabil Iran. Due to … Continue reading →

The Ziegler company was founded in the late nineteenth century in Manchester England. It began the manufacture of rugs and carpets in the Persian city’s of Tabriz and Sultanabad. These rugs and carpets were sold as Ziegler’s and woven deliberately for the … Continue reading →

Despite the city of Kerman being located in one of the poorest provinces of Iran, it has been producing fine Persian rugs and carpets since the sixteenth century. Shah Abbas chose Kerman to establish one of his elite royal weaving … Continue reading →

Rugs and carpets produced in Afghanistan can be separated into two main groups. Firstly the Turkoman rugs and carpets which are manufactured by the Turkoman tribes who migrated into what became Afghanistan in the seventeenth century. Secondly the modern Afghan … Continue reading →

The Persian town of Heriz is located in North West Iran. Famous for its tough hard wearing rugs and carpets with characteristic geometric designs. The modern production of Heriz rugs and carpets is plentiful and good value, but enter into … Continue reading →

The town of Bidjar is located in Persian Kurdistan, North West Iran. Rugs and carpets from this area are reputed to be the hardest wearing of all the Persian rugs and carpets produced today. They can be so heavy and … Continue reading →

Rugs and carpets have been produced in the city of Agra since the early 16th century. Agra was the Mughal capital from 1566 to 1569 and again from 1601 to 1658. Many fabulous rugs and carpets were made during the … Continue reading →

The Persian town of Nain located 100 miles north east of Isfahan has only been producing rugs and carpets since the 1930s, despite this short history the weavers of Nain are among the best in the world, and are now … Continue reading →

Meshed is the capital city of the Iran’s largest province Khorasan (land of the rising sun). It has been the third holiest Shia Muslim site since 818AD when Ali ar-Rida was interred near the tomb of Harun-ar-Rashid, the fifth Abbasid … Continue reading →

The Persian city of Hamadan was once the capital of Darius the Great. This celebrated old Persian King ruled during the Achaemenid empire from 522BC-486BC. Rug weaving in Hamadan has only been notable since around 1900, but the city soon … Continue reading →