Guide to Heriz Serapi Rugs from Persia

Guide to Heriz and Serapi Rugs: The tradition of Persian carpet weaving dates back more than 1,000 years. According to written records, the King of Persia commissioned an unprecedented carpet decorated with crystals, gemstones, and precious metals in the 6th Century. However, the tradition of Heriz and Serapi carpets is relatively recent. Heriz carpets were produced during 19th Century primarily as exports to Europe and Britain. Historically, it was common for carpet traders to market rugs produced in neighboring villages like Bakshaish as Herizes. However, not all villages were able to match the quality of the native Heriz weavers. Although the cities of Heris and Sarab are both located in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, which is also home to the city of Tabriz, Heriz and Serapi carpets are totally unlike those produced in Tabriz. Where designs from Tabriz used flowing curvilinear figures with ornate decorations, carpet weavers in Heriz used bold geometric and tribal motifs with angular lines that bear little resemblance to the flowers and objects they represent.

Carpet trade and production were thriving industries in the 19th Century. European and foreign firms like Ziegler & Company made extensive investments in the Persian carpet industry to gain control over all aspects of rug production from the resources and raw materials to the weaving process. Management firms held land, controlled grazing rights, and contracted workers to manage herds, operate dyeworks, and weave carpets. In 19th Century Heriz, villagers adapted their own designs from traditional patterns influenced by Tabriz, Genghis Khan, the Safavid dynasty, and Shah Abbas the Great centuries before. Designs for carpets, which could be more than 10 feet long, were traditionally planned on handkerchief-sized swatches showing one quarter of a symmetrical carpet design. Under the control of foreign management firms, Heriz carpets from the late 19th Century became standardized, and carpet designs were increasingly prepared using graph paper cartoons, carpet samplers, and patterns that reduced intuitive weaving techniques and off-the-cuff creativity.

Because most Heriz and Serapi carpets were produced by foreigners for a foreign market, the size of Heriz carpets tends to be wider and larger than most traditional Persian carpets. Classic Heriz and Serapi carpets combine geometric flowers and palmettes from the Caucasus as well as Shah Abbasi flowers, floral elements, and Islamic arches similar to those used by the legendary Safavid weavers. To highlight elaborate medallions and floral centerpieces, weavers from Heriz used a combination of fawn, buff, and camel colored backgrounds along with contrasting outlines. Colors used in traditional Heriz rugs include natural black fleece, ivory, muted green, sky blue, and red from the madder root. Antique Heriz carpets also known as Serapi carpets are known for their unique shade of blue, which often resembles turquoise or teal. Early Heriz and Serapi carpets age gracefully; brilliant colors fade and carpets take on a refined appearance as the bright madder dye slowly dulls to muted sandstone and brick-like reds.

Older Heriz and Serapi carpets were knotted over a wool fiber warp while carpets made later in the 19th Century used cotton for the warp, weft, and fringe. Weavers in Iran and Heriz used the symmetrical Turkish or Ghiordes knot to produce thick-pile carpets with as many as 100 knots per square inch in wool carpets and more than 1,000 knots per square inch in silk carpets. Heriz and Serapi rugs as well as those produced in the neighboring cities of Ghorevan and Ahar are known for their geometric figures, unique colors, high-quality construction, and attention to detail. Despite a 13-year embargo on Iranian Heriz and Serapi rugs imported into the U.S., which ended in 2000, Heriz carpets remain one of the most iconic styles of Oriental rugs.

History of Heriz Rugs

Just west of Tabriz lies the village of Heriz, located in the Iranian part of Azerbaijan. Heriz carpets are mostly distinguished by their rectilinear designs, a departure from the traditional arabesques and scrolls typical of Persian manufactory. A large central stepped medallion with corners or an all over design of highly stylized floral motifs is quite typical. Repeating patterns are less common. The pile is thick and heavy and the color palette is rich and varied. Older Heriz rugs had madder grounds and medallions mostly of indigo. The finer rugs use the technique “double outlining”, where the design of the rug is separated from the field by two lines in different colors. This design element sets the gold standard for the best Heriz designs.