The Ancient Kerman Rug and the Importance of History in Persian Artworks
When people want to buy a Persian or Oriental rug they pay a lot of importance to its age. The older the carpet, the higher the price and when compared to other things, it seems that only the wine and oriental rugs get better with the passing of time. The age has a special value to people that are really passionate collectors. In the meantime, those, who want to buy an oriental rug should learn something about the Persian point of view on creative processes.
As Jorge Luis Borges explains in one of his writings about the Orient, Persians do not have a history of literature. They are not interested in the arrangement of facts because they believe that literature and poetry are eternal processes.
It looks that a common trait of oriental people is to translate history into memory through artworks, literature, poetry, and carpets. The latter are one of the finest forms of aesthetical expression, hence they can be defined as visual storytelling.
This is another quality that links carpet weaving to poetry and literature. Storytelling is an endless process that suggests an infinite work. Just like their thousand and one nights of stories and fairy tales, where any author can add its story or version, even the carpets reflect an endless story and each weaver has the right to create his own work of art.
Now that you know the stance of Persians towards history in terms of creative work, you would consider every rug important no matter what its age is.
Think smart and find your Kerman now
Take the example of the Kerman or Kirman rugs. Like Tabriz rugs, even these carpets have an excellent reputation in nowadays Iran and among foreign buyers. The carpets are named after the city where they have been waved for the first time around the 15th century. Maybe it was a coincidence that highly-skilled master weavers, the finest wool, vegetable dyes were found at the same place. The result of this combination was a wide range of designs and colors that were used with excellent mastery. The thing that buyers from other countries know is that there are no two Kerman rugs alike. Their diversity in designs and motifs like the famous Damask Rose, make them highly adored and wanted all around the world.
Although the Kerman rugs are classified as traditional Persian carpets, new designs have been created to meet the western styles of home décor. One doesn’t need many reasons for buying a hand-weaved Kerman rug. As the years will pass by, the carpet is going to be old enough, but for the moment, even the newest carpet is part of an eternal process.
