Weaving group

(Posted on 22/07/13)

The term 'weaving group' can be applied to any town, village or tribe within the oriental weaving region, which produces its own hand-made rugs, but it is normally only used in the context of the older, more traditional weaving centres in which rugs possess their own distinctive characteristics.Consequently, very few weaving centres in India or Pakistan can be said to constitute individual weaving group. Similarly, one cannot talk about contemporary Chinese, Russian or Balkan weaving group, because there is usually little or no difference in the character and appearance of rugs made in the various centres throughout each country.In addition to classifying specific weaving centres or tribes, the term may also be used in a broader sense to encompass any collection of tribes or villages which combine the same ethnic origins, or general location, with an underlying uniformity in their rugs.Its not enough to have only one of these criteria in common. For example, an Indian village producing Kashan-style rugs cannot be said to be part of the Kashan weaving group; nor can the Persian towns of Kashan and Arak be placed together, despite their relative proximity, because of the strong dissimilarities in their rugs.