Description
Shirikipich is a kind of rug and one of the most famous hand-woven handicrafts in Iran, which is woven in Sirjan and Baft areas in the southeast of Iran. This type of rug is unique and different. Needle rugs are popular in the northwest of Iran, the areas around Aras, especially Karabagh, and in the Moghan plain, and in these areas, the name of needle rugs is Verni. Other types of needle rugs woven in other regions of Iran have their own names. For example, in the southwest, a type of needle rug called Rand is woven, in the southeast, such as Kerman and Afshar nomads, the name of these needle rugs is Shirikipich. Silky rugs woven twist; In terms of elegance and thinness, they are the record holders among Iranian rugs. Therefore, in addition to decorating the floor, these rugs are also used as wall coverings and decorative works. “Shirikipich” has been considered to mean a horse’s tread, which probably refers to its first use. Also, “Pitch Bafi” is one of the types of rug weaving, and on the other hand, “Shiriki” can indicate the type of knot that is woven in pairs or partners, or it indicates the partnership and cooperation of two weavers in its weaving. These braids are woven from wool yarn like other types of rugs. Its fabric is similar to a rug and its texture is similar to a carpet. In the past, the Shirki Pitch rug was simply woven as a rug, but today it is woven as a combination of a rug and a carpet. Rugs are similar to hand-woven carpets in terms of weaving method, but they have important differences from hand-woven carpets in terms of structure, type of texture and characteristics as follows:
– Rugs are thinner than hand-woven carpets and can even be used as wall coverings.
– Rugs mostly do not have piles and have formed a flat and delicate structure, so the consistency of handwoven carpets is higher than rugs.
– The speed of weaving and the amount of raw materials needed for weaving them is lower than that of hand-woven carpets.
The interesting thing about these rugs is that they generally use mental and improvised designs in their texture. Considering the fewer rows of these rugs compared to hand-woven carpets, mental and improvisational designs can increase the weaving speed of these rugs. Usually, the rugs for which improvised weaving method is used, will be more creative and abstract.
In 2017, the carpets of Shirkipich and Sirjan and the village of Darestan were registered as global carpet villages in the scientific and cultural organization of the United Nations, UNESCO. Darestan, one of the functions of Sirjan city in Kerman, is known as the main origin of Shirki Pich rugs. Darestani rugs are generally made of sumac; Sumac rugs are the thinnest type of rugs that are woven using the twist weaving method. Other names of sumac rugs; It is transparent and one-sided. The people of Darstan use the twist weaving technique to weave this beautiful rug. Twist weaving method is also known as needle weaving among the public. In this type of carpet, unlike other types of carpet, in which the weft creates the product and only connects the threads to each other. Shirki Bich looks like a carpet and is woven with knots like a carpet, and unlike other types of rugs where the weft completes and represents the motifs, here the weft does not play a role in the texture and the weft only has the role of connecting the threads and makes the cream thread stronger. It becomes threads.
Shiraki Pich carpet is one of the best hand-woven carpets in Iran and the world in terms of richness of symbols, design and color. In the structure of these rugs, two parts, border and text structure are used. The borders of these rugs are mainly in the form of abstract and symmetrical geometric shapes and fine texture. The role and general designs of needle rugs include 3 main pillars, which are border, fringe and text. Usually, the main role of needle rugs are animals and they are woven by nomadic women mentally and without a plan. The pattern of the text of these rugs is very rich in terms of variety, and all kinds of symbols and ancient forms are used in them; Betejagah, flowers of Musa Khani, Laleh Abbasi, Heshmati, Samavari are such motifs that are woven into the structure of the rug in the form of text knots. Among the most famous designs of this carpet, we can mention the clay design. In this design, the designs and patterns that we mentioned earlier are placed in a structured way inside squares. The texture of these rugs will sometimes be more time-consuming than other hand-woven rugs due to the various details and designs.
The color spectrum used in these beautiful and elegant rugs is mainly in a balanced range with a combination of warm and cold colors. These colors are generally of natural and vegetable origin. Carpet weaving in nomadic and rural communities is almost a non-permanent and seasonal profession.
This patterned carpet is also used to produce bags, panels, chair covers, wall hangings and other handicrafts.
Moharamat:
Moharamat design is one of the oldest Iranian motifs, dating back even before the Achaemenid period. To the role of Moharamat, which is also called Qalamdani in some regions. In addition to carpets and rugs, this design is also used on knotted handwoven fabrics and cashmeres.
In the Moharamat pattern, the carpet text is divided into narrow longitudinal strips with various colors and delicate motifs. The pattern of Moharamat is designed in the form of vertical, horizontal, diagonal and zigzag strips. In these strips, the design and pattern can be the same and differ only in coloring. In decorating these strips, you can use different motifs such as Gol Farang, Shah Abbasi, Bote, Slimi, Guldan, etc.
Carpets decorated with Moharamat motifs look striped from a distance. In the design of Moharamat carpet strips, the method of designing the vagire and using one or more small designed parts (vagire) and matching them in the text of the carpet is used. In the contagion map, a design or motifs connected together are repeated regularly and sequentially throughout the text of the carpet. The vertical mode, which looks like narrow or wide columns, is more useful.