Rug Ruminations

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Bijar Rugs

Bijar rugs are a type of rug originating from one of 65 areas in Iran a very fine persian rug or Iranian rug.  Each area has a  different type of rug with it’s own name. In most cases it is named after the town or village that it comes from.  So for example, there are Bijar rugs, Heriz rugs say Serapi, Kashan rugs, Nain, Esphan rugs, Tabriz rugs, Shiraz, and Tribal rugs (such as Kashgai, Bacara, Yalemeh and Backteiari).

Bijar rugs (bidjar rug) are often called the Iron Rugs of Persia they are some of the finest Iranian rugs. The Bijar is a heavy durable rug that has been very popular in the United States. Bijar rugs are especially fine when they come from the village called Tekab.  Bijars are normally woven on cotton warps and for the pile, superb quality kurdish wool is used and clipped low to medium. They have double warp and double weft and are made with kurdish wool.  The number of knots per square inch is anywhere from 150 to 250 knots/square inch.  Bijar weavers use a special tool to beat the weft strands together until they form an exceptionally foundation for the pile.  This makes the rug extremely dense and heavy and leads to a much sharper design as the more knots/square inch the more detail can be added. These rugs are the most hard wearing items produced anywhere in the world. They are strong, they are perfect and they last for many hundreds of years.  There are some rugs on the Borokhim website, that are 100 years old and still in perfect condition.

Something to be aware of with Bijar rugs, is that one should never fold them.  Because the warp and weft are so tight they press together, and could easily break if the rug is bent.

There are several different designs within the Bijar rug type.  The first is called Afshar, which is essentially octagon shaped medallions within medallions which are predominantly in the center. Another style called Herati or Farahan consists of a diamond surrounded by 4 half moon or fish.  Within this design you will often see a pattern called Minihani which includes 4 flowers as well as a Herati pattern with 4 half moon or fish around it.

The border on Bijars is generally called stylist wrap or turtle.  The Bijar palette is very rich with many jewel colors such as cherry red, green.  The most common colors are browns, ivory, ochre, and turquoise.  These tend to dominate the motifs.

These fine rugs have an extremely long life as they are structurally sound.

For the past 20 years, in addition to Herati and Afshar designs, Bijars from this Tekab area have incorporated designs with an overall pattern (with or without a medallion), called Shahabbass.  This design was based upon a pattern, done in mosaic and clay, found in the ceiling of a local mosque which is also called Shabaz.

In addition aside from the traditional Bijar patterns (Herati, Afshar, and Shahabbass) there are many other patterns that have been produced in Bijars.  They include a floral rug, which is called Gholfrang or essentially a Halvai pattern.

Another interesting facet of these rugs is that some of these rugs have silk foundations, silk warps or silk highlights.  The silk gives the rug a lot more color and shine and really makes the color pop.   And the nice thing is that these are just as durable as the rugs without the silk as the amount of silk used is essentially 1/2 of 1% so you are still getting an iron rug of persia.

Incidentally the newer bijars are far more intricate, are much tightly woven, and have more colors than the old ones.  In addition they tend to be straighter.  40 -50 years ago they used wooden looms.  Since they use a is called a wet weave (every time they put in a know they get the wool wet) they are extremely heavy (twice as heavy as any other rug of the same size).   Because they are so heavy when made with a wooden loom the loom would often break or warp leading to rugs which tended to be a bit crooked.  Newer Bijars are made on steel looms and therefore tend to be straighter. Although each rug is still unique with minor differences from rug to rug as they are handmade.
As far as I’m concerned, I cannot think of any rug as well made, as colorful or as good of an investment as a Bijar. I have been in this this business 37 years, and my father was in the business in iran for 58 years.

Every year I have been in this business, these Persian rugs have appreciated in value. You can’t say that about any other Iranian rug.