A Study on Application of Textiles in Packaging Small-Sized Items in the Qajar Period Based on Written Documents and Qualitative Properties of the Designs and Motifs

Much like today, applications for textiles were not limited to clothing in the Qajar period in Iran. Different types of machine weavings (textiles) were used to fulfill many human needs at the time, and even to a larger extent than they are now. Research in applied arts has not sufficiently focused on such applications for textiles. One of these applications was using textiles for packaging and carrying small-sized items such as books, particularly the Quran, turbahs (“mohr” in Persian), misbahas (or tasbīḥs), needles, qalamdans [pen boxes], watches, surmadans [kohl containers], and even bathing soaps and food such as bread and pastry. This study aimed to examine the application of textiles for everyday needs such as packaging and carrying small-sized items during the Qajar period in Iran. It also attempted to scrutinize the qualitative properties of the designs and motifs on the textiles used for these purposes. Accordingly, the study questions were posed as follows: How could we categorize the textiles used for packaging and carrying small-sized everyday items during the Qajar period? How could we analyze the designs and motifs on the textiles used for these purposes? In this historical-analytical study, about twenty five Qajar travel writings from the beginning of the Qajar rule to its end were explored. In addition, remaining images from the Qajar era, including paintings and photos, and tangible textile samples were analyzed using stratified sampling. The results showed that boghches (a kind of bindle), khonche pooshes (fabrics used to decorate khonche, a light wooden crate used in the traditional Iranian wedding ceremonies), small bags known as “pershal” bags, handkerchiefs, and towels (peshtemal) were among the most important and common items needed for packaging and carrying small objects. For this use, sometimes pieces of fabric from old clothing items were patched since small-sized pieces of fabric were needed and textiles were expensive. However, new textiles were also used occasionally. Khonche poosh was different from the other items and was made with expensive types of fabric given its application as a gift [at weddings]. No matter the material or application, its decoration was completed by various types of embroidery including pateh duzi, cheshmeh duzi, etc. The analysis of the designs and motifs on the textiles used for these purposes indicated that from the nine textile designs, vagireh (tangled), muharramat (striped), framed (plaid), afshan (scattered), mehrabi, and toranj dar designs, which were usually decorated with floral patterns, were the most used. Nevertheless, the dominant designs in the textiles were sometimes muharramat and framed (striped and plaid), i.e., without a pattern, and at other times, geometrical patterns were used on any design (usually framed, mehrabi, toranj dar) because of the predominance of cheshme duzi embroidery technique. Overall, the examination of the frequency of the designs and motifs on the remaining textiles, which were used for the items made for packaging such as boghche, khonche poosh, hankerchiefs, towels, and pershal bags in the Qajar period in Iran, demonstrated that toranj dar or medallion design (with the square symmetry principle) was the most frequent as it fit the square or circle shape of the piece of fabric. Floral motifs were also the main patterns used in the decoration of this design.