    Ahar Arak Ardabil Birjand Ghochan Hamadan Isfahan Kashmar Kerman Malayer Sanandaj Sarough Shahreza Shiraz Tabriz Turkman Zandjan     |
BAKHTIAR
The Bakhtiari weaving area `begins South of Borugerd east and south of the Zagros Mountains, and west of the Isfahan plain. Bakhtiari rugs and carpets have symmetrical knots that may be single or doubled wafted. The single wafted rugs are similar to Hamadan rugs so from structure we turn to borders and colour to make an attribution. One clue is that Bakhtiari rugs generally seem to have larger wafting. Peter Stone suggests in his Lexicon that cotton foundation and single wefts are village rugs and that double wafted are "tribal". I am not sure where that puts double wafted cotton foundation rugs but Pete Stone is one of the great experts on structure so his comments are worth considering.
Bakhtiar is the name given to two types of rug: firstly to those made by nomads in the Zagros Mountains west of Isfahan in central Iran, and secondly and more importantly to the rugs made by settled villagers in the area. Few nomadic Bakhtiar rugs come on the market: commonest are perhaps the bags, which combine pile and Kelim work. The village rugs are commoner: they are made in several dozen, mountain villages whose inhabitants are of Turkish or Persian or Armenian origin. They are sold mostly in the Isfahan bazaar. The main villages are (in the Chamar Mahal district) Ben, Ghaveh, Rokh, Baba Heydar, Harun, Samun, Sefid, Dasht, Chaleshotor and Shalamzar.
Most Bakhtiar rugs are made in large sizes on vertical or horizontal looms; 2 x 3 m is the commonest size, though much larger sizes are found. The most common designs are medallions and the so-called 'garden' design, where the field is divided into square compartments each with a different floral design. This design has ancient antecedents. The Designs fare often rather rustic, as large blocks of colour with heavy outlines are used. Most of the colours fare from locally produced vegetable dyes, resulting in a very harmonious effect.
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