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ABOUT RUGS
History and Safavid Dynasty
The great time period of Persian art especially
the rug weaving was during the Safavid Dynasty (1502-1722).During
that period there was the rule of Shah Tahmasp (1524-76) and Shah
Abbas I (1588-1629). And the ruler Shah Abbas himself was a very
skillful weaver. The rulers under this dynast established a royal
weaving workshops in the various cities of Afghanistan i.e. Esfahan,
Herat, Kashan, Kerman, Joshaqan, Shiraz, Sabzevar, Tabriz,Yazd.This
led the designing of very high quality Rugs.With hands on experience
the weaving transformed from a nomadic craft into highly sophisticated
art and designing of RUGS. The designs were not limited to old pattern
but also got transformed into curvilinear patterns. The design skills
increased at a termendously.
The Early Chinese carpets were made of knotted
silk pile with backings of wool or cotton. With the passsage of
time Chinese developed the use of wool pile production for weaving
high quality rugs.The Nomadic Central Asian tribes also developed
the use of weaving wool rugs. The rugs which were developed by them
were simple horizontal frames which were easily rolled up for traveling.
Even the Italian merchants brought oriental rugs
to Europe where they were first used as wall coverings.But by the
year 1600 there was a powerful guild of weavers in France. In 1608
Henry IV of France set up looms in the Louvre.
Rug Weaving to
India
In India the Rug weaving came into effect during the sixteenth century.During
that period there was the rule of Moghul Emperor Akbar.At the same
time the rug weaving was flourishing in Iran under the rule of the
Safavid Dynasty as described earlier.Workshops in large number came
into effect under the effect of Persian Weavers.This made the influence
of Indian designs all over the world by those of Iran, mainly by
the curvilinear styles such as Esfahan.
In Today's scenario the most
carpet production (94%) is tufted carpet. Tufted
carpet is being produced 15 times faster than woven carpet. The
faster production saves time and greatly reduces the labor costs
during the carpet and rugs manufacturing.
To achieve dimensional stability
in tufted carpet it's very important to apply two layers of "backing"
(double-backed tufted carpet) to the carpet. The
backing immediately beneath the pile yam is called the "primary"
backing. Attached to the primary backing there is a layer of rubber
or latex is the "secondary" backing. The original backing
on tufted carpet was"jute." Jute is a
natural burlap that when over-wet surface was subject to shrinkage.
Presently, the backing of tufted carpet is made from a synthetic
material called polypropylene (olefin). Polypropylene backing will
not accept moisture so the shrinkage.
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