Joshaqan (Josheghan) Rugs
High above Karkass Mountain, looking down
at the hot desert, Joshaqan is chilled by the
surrounding snow-peaked hills. Here is the spot a branch of Zagros ends in
the desert between Isfahan and Kashan. The
pointy hills of marble, iron and azure glow in
various shades around villages. A landscape
with deep affinity with the unique rug design
attributed to this town.
Three Iranian villages, as least, named
Joshaqan, two of which are around Kashan,
north of Isfahan Province. Naturally, these
two have bynames: Joshaqan-e Astarak
‘Astarak’s Joshaqan’, and Joshaqan-e Qali
Joshaqan the Rug(-center). The name may also Romanized as ‘Joshegan and
‘Jowshaghan’.
Lots of Iranian cities and villages are famous
for their rug-weaving tradition, giving their
names to their products but it is only
Joshaqan which is nicknamed after qali, the
rug!
The town gained its reputation as a rug
weaving center under the Safavid Shahs. The
cool, healthy air made Joshaqan a favorite
summer residence for Shah Abbas, the Great
and his court. Royal rug workshops were also
established there for upland pastures and
excellent water, which provided the fine wool
and excellent herbal and mineral dyes. Great
artisan such as master weavers and dyers
were attracted to the town from distant
places. At the height of its glory Joshaqan produced
royal rugs and carpets not only for the Persian
Court, but also for the Indian Mughal Court.
Shah Abbas, Abbas the Great, Abbas I of Persia
Technical aspects and the structure of Joshaqan Rugs
Joshaqan rugs are woolen-piled on cotton
foundation. Knots are asymmetric (Persian)
with a density between 100 and 200 per
square inch. Joshaqans are usually woven without loom-
drawing.
Dyeing and painting of Joshaqan rugs
Fertile soil of the region provides herbal and
mineral dyestuffs. Red and dark blue are
dominant for grounds, including deep reds as
well as acid-moderated pinks. For secondary shades Joshaqan’s palette is
varied: azure, cobalt and midnight blues,
pistachio, light and dark greens, yellows and
oranges as well as white and ivory, to be
mentioned.
Designs and patterns of the Joshaqan rugs
Some Persian designs referred as ‘universal’
by art historians. Herati (Mahi) and Lachak-
Toranj (central medallion) may be the most
famous ones. Joshaqan could be mentioned
so, though it’s not as multiple versioned as
the others. The basic design has a unique structure of its
own, named after a cold mountainous village
in the heart of the central Iranian deserts,
between Isfahan and Kashan, once the major
center for the Safavid royal rug workshops,
in which a classic version still is woven.
The classic version of Joshaqan is an all-over
lozenge pattern, each lozenge consisting of a
fine rectilinear floral motif. In other words,
rectilinear floral motifs, framed with
invisible vertical lozenges, fill the ground to
make a lattice of neat geometric sprays,
leaves and flowers. Such neatly rendered
patterns may appear curvilinear in the first
glance.
There are interpretations of the design in
which frames tend to ovals with actual leafy
lines. Zagros folks have various framed
designs. Some experts tend to call these
designs ‘Joshaqan’ too if their frames tend to
lozenges. This is true about Isfahan and
Kashan’s Qab-Qabis (Framed) designs and
modern interpretations.
In antique Joshaqans sometimes the lozenges
surround a bigger lozenge that serves as a
central medallion. In some cases such a
central medallion could be deemed just by the
difference of colors or type of floral motifs
while examples with certain central
medallion and corners are also numerable,
some with large corners and tiny stellar
medallions, others with medium corners and
medium round medallion.
Repeats of vertical diamonds give an
accurate tiled feature to the design though the
original Joshaqan pieces have been woven
without loom-drawings. The design is assumed not to be older than
four centuries that may be considered a
young age for a Persian thing! There are
antique and semi antique tribal
interpretations of the design as well as city-
woven pieces, traditionally woven in
Meimeh, the neighboring town of Joshaqan-
e Qali village. It has been copied widely in
other Persian weaving centers during recent
century. Also today the Joshaqan design is
imitated abundantly in modern designs.
The most famous design attributed to
Joshaqan is an all-over lozenge pattern, each
lozenge consisting of a fine rectilinear floral
motif. In other words, rectilinear floral
motifs, framed with invisible vertical
lozenges, fill the ground to make a lattice of
neat geometric sprays, leaves and flowers.
Such neatly rendered patterns may appear
curvilinear in the first glance.
