14495 Qum vintage rug hand knotted 7.1 x 4.4 ft / 215 x 135 cm
Production method: hand-knotted
Pile material: cork wool silk
Warp and weft: cotton
Quality: very fine weave
Condition: Very good
Age: Hand knotted 1950/60
Ghom (also Qum, Qom) is a city in central Persia, about 130 km south of the capital Tehran at a height of 1000 m. The city is known as the seat of the Islamic theological college and as a place of pilgrimage. The sister of the eighth Imam (Ali ibn Musa ar-Rida / Imam Reza), Fatima bint Musa, died in Qom in 817 and was buried there. A gold-colored dome, which is impressive even by today's standards and is one of the landmarks of Qom, was erected over your grave around 1600.
Qom is not a city with a very old knotting tradition. In the 1930s, carpet manufacturers from the nearby city of Kashan began to set up production in Qom. Due to the increased global demand for Persian carpets, the existing knotting centers could no longer produce sufficiently. Consequently, new production facilities were established. In the beginning, motifs from Kashan were primarily imitated. But the weavers soon began to knot all kinds of carpets. Often Caucasian graphic motifs such as Shirvan, Kazak or Seichur were popular designs in Qom. In the 1960s, a style of its own began to develop.
Design elements from Kashan can still be found today, especially in the borders or in the way certain flowers are knotted. Nevertheless, carpets from Qom have a distinctive appearance today. A lush floral pattern is typical, often in a medallion design. Most carpets are knotted in the formats 90 x 60 cm, 130 x 80 cm, 150 x 100 cm, 200 x 130 cm as well as runners and gallery dimensions. Pieces in the formats 300 x 200 cm, 350 x 250 cm, 400 x 300 cm are also knotted as silk carpets, but with production times of a few years, such oversizes are less common and often very expensive.
Designs: Floral, usually with a medallion. Worked in great detail. Also common patterns are prayer rugs with a dome and tree of life, hunting motifs, figural carpets and pictures.
Qum silk carpets are among the finest and most filigree knotted work of all. By using thin, tear-resistant silk threads as katt material, particularly small knots can be tied. This makes very elaborate motifs possible.