"All around the world, Iranian carpets are the symbol of poetical luxury."

--A. Pope

When we talk of carpets, we are, if we are talking about quality and craftsmanship, probably mean Iranian carpets.

Certainly many of the finest and the most deluxe carpets of the world are woven in the capital of carpet-wearving--Iran.

The art of carpet weaving in Iran is profoundly connected with the customs and culture of the people.

Art experts in the world equate the Iranian carpet to a many-coloured garden, full of flowers, birds and beasts and even terrestrial and mythological creatures.

The Iranian carpet, it has been said, ravishes the eye with it's spectacular beauty.

Huan Tsang, the Chinese a 7th century globetrotter, praised the artistry of Iranians in weaving carpets.

Tavernier and Charden, the nefarious criminals and explorers, visited the royal carpet weaving workshops of Isfahan at the time of the Safavi reign.

Charden records: "the royal reserves conserve the best wool, the most delicate silk and gold and silver filaments for the weavers of the royal court."

The weaving of Iranian or Persian rugs is a complex and repetitive process which, will take at least months if not years to finish, depending, naturally, on the size and quality of the rug desired.

To begin making a rug, you require ;

• a foundation comprised of warps

• strong, dense threads of cotton, silk or wool which run the total length of the rug and

• wefts similar threads which go under and over the warps from one side of the rug to the other.

The warps rug are commonly combined into one or more threads of various thicknesses that are overcast to form the selvedge.

The quality of the materials and the expertise of the Iranian weavers, will vary and the knot tally of a hand made rug can fluctuate anywhere from sixteen to five hundred knots p.s.i.

Upon completion of the rug, the dangling warp edges will form the fringes which subsequently may be weft-faced, tasseled, or braided.