Jozan Magazine has asked Manouchehr Haghighat, Tehran carpet dealer to tell Jozan’s readers about carpet life in Iran and reveal some information from his buying trips.
He has kindly responded and told about some interesting Mazandaran kilims unknown in western carpet trade until ca. 10 years ago where Parviz Tanavoli published his book “Persian flatweaves“.
Of special interest Manouchehr mentions black and white kilims, Hezar-Jerib kilims and colorful Kia Sar kilims from the Mazandaran province. According to local people some of the best kilims are woven in Khalil Mahalleh. In older times these kilims were used as comfortable coverings for felt rugs and as wall hangings keeping the houses warm in the cold mountainous area.
In February 2010 The Textile Arts Council presented a lecture by Alberto Levi “Primitivism and Abstraction in Persian Tribal Flatweaves” at de Young Museum, San Francisco. The same lecture was held for members of the New England Rug Society on 5 February 2010, where Jim Adelson wrote a review.
According to Alberto Levi these kilims were first identified in 1998 by Parviz Tanavoli, who traced them to the Mazandaran region, and determined that they were made as rufarshi, the coverings for pile carpets in Qajar palaces. Within the Mazandaran area, many of the weavings come from Hezar-Jerib. There are four types of Hezar-Jerib kilims, categorized by design: horizontal stripes; plain, solid color fields; minimalist designs; and ikat-like patterns.
A Mazandaran kilim, exhibited by an expert in this field Werner Weber was nominated in the category “Best Antique Carpet” at Domotex 2010. On his website Werner Weber writes “It is our privilege to represent and share with the rest of the world the little-known treasures of Persia. How they were able to create such sophisticated, minimal designs for textiles is quite amazing, given these people have lived their whole lives in remote, mountainous areas, a long way away from modern influences.”
“I can tell you that Mr. Parviz Tanavoli and myself are working on a book, titled Hezar Jerib, it is all about the so far unknown kilims from Hezar Jerib.” says Werner Weber to Jozan Magazine.
The book on is likely to be out early next year.