Designs, Motifs and Production Methods of Textile Hangings Used in the Living Space during the Qajar Period

The Qajar dynasty ruled over Iran for about 130 years (1796-1925). As the Qajar rule in Iran coincided with the Industrial Revolution in the west, traditional methods of textile production were gradually replaced with industrial manufacturing methods and similar imported textiles. However, handicrafts and conventional textile production and finishing supplied the domestic demands to a large extent for a long time. Textiles with “Mihrabi” (altar) and “Toranj-dar” designs, whose production was dependent on advanced weaving techniques such as Ikat or finishing processes including “Qalamkar” printing and “Ruduzi” (embroidery) because of the application of principle of axial symmetry (mirroring), were used to finish and decorate living spaces and shelters like houses, palaces, and camps in the Qajar period in Iran. This study aimed to examine textiles with mihrabi and Toranj-dar designs in this use. Accordingly, the main question was: What were the usual designs, motifs, uses, and production methods of textile hangings in living spaces in the Qajar period? Most previous studies have focused on frequent instances in clothing, highlighting the significance of studying textiles. Moreover, Mihrabi and Toranj-dar designs (used frequently in Qajar hangings according to the study hypothesis) were neither used in the clothing of the time because of the mirroring principle nor portrayed often in the numerous Qajar paintings - as a crucial area of research. Therefore, this study attempted to explore this neglected topic in depth using primary historical sources such as travelogues, pictures, and available images of tangible instances preserved at museums. In this descriptive-historical study, the data were collected through library research, indexing, and image analysis. Qajar travelogues by Charles Auguste Bontemps, Maurice de Kotzebue, James Justinian Morier, James Baillie Fraser, J. M. Tancoigne, Gaspard Drouville, Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, Mme Carla Serena, Heinrich Karl Brugsch, Ernest Orsolle, Henri Moser, Joannes Feuvrier, Charles James Wills, Henry d'Allemagne, Eugene Aubin, and Clara Colliver Rice were examined. Images and tangible instances at the National Museum of Iran, Golestan Palace, and Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies, and works preserved at museums abroad including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Brooklyn Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Hamid Tavakoli’s private collection were analyzed. The retrieved instances were categorized and a total of 22 Qajar textile hangings with half (Mihrabi) and quadric (Toranj-dar) axial design were selected. Sixteen hangings had Mihrabi design and six had Toranj-dar design. The results of the qualitative study of texts and images demonstrated that the textile industry was fundamentally changed in the Qajar era by the industrial methods and extensive imported textiles. Nonetheless, domestic productions with conventional methods supplied most of everyday demands for textile from the royal court to the economically disadvantaged classes of the society. It can be concluded that handicraft workshops in cities like Kashan, Yazd, Mashhad, and Isfahan were active in golabatoon-duzi, abrisham-bafi, shawl-bafi, shaar-bafi, chelvar-bafi, cotton weaving, and other crafts in the early years of Qajar period in Iran. In the early decades of the 19th century, Iranian industries survived the insecure conditions after the fall of the Safavid dynasty and was revived when the Qajar rule was firmly established. However, political developments in this period along with Iran’s expansion of business relations put domestic crafts in a competition with the imported western goods. As small domestic industries were not able to keep up with them, the workshops shrank in number. According to credible historical documents, in mid-Qajar period and during the rule of Naser al-Din Shah, various textiles with different qualities were produced with traditional methods but sold in competition with imported textiles. As this trend continued and foreigners pushed to dominate the Iranian market, the advancement of domestic production was grievously hindered. Therefore, although handicrafts survived for the first fifty years of Qajar rule, Iranian traditional industries failed to prosper except in carpet weaving and other crafts whose products Europeans favored. Research on Qajar textiles has focused in used instances in clothing; however, some designs like Mihrabi and Toranj-dar that follow the principle of axial symmetry (in half and quadric form, respectively) have been neglected since they were considered unfit for the aesthetics requirements in clothing at the time. Furthermore, such designs are often known by loom weavings or with their use in mats like prayer rugs or “Boghcheh” (a kind of bindle used for packaging small-sized items), while textiles with axially symmetric designs were extensively used as hangings in living spaces in the Qajar period. This study indicated that textiles with Mihrabi design were largely used as louvers, curtains, brackets, wall hangings, and tent coverings. In addition to these uses, especially as louvers - although less than textiles with Mihrabi design - textiles with Toranj-dar design were used particularly as “Taqcheh” (niche) and mantelpiece coverings. Other designs such as “Ravai”, “Vagireh” (tangled), “Afshan” (scattered), “Muharramat” (striped), and “Katibeh” were also used for these purposes and some like Ravai and katibeh designs seem to be have been prominent as wall hangings (particularly during public mournings). Nonetheless, the historical written sources and analysis of images of instances showed that Mihrabi and Toranj-dar designs were more frequent in textile hangings, decorated in most cases with floral motifs. In Mihrabi design, human and animal forms were also used. In fact, textiles with Mihrabi design used as tent coverings and wall hangings foregrounded the human role and thus, the final product was more fit for the inner part of the living space rather than outside. on the other hand, Mihrabi and Toranj-dar textiles with floral and animal motifs were used both inside and outside the living space. Sometimes geometric motifs were used in Mihrabi and more frequently in Toranj-dar designs given the embroidery technique known as “Cheshmeh-duzi”. However, overall, floral motifs were more dominant and woven symmetrically. As the mirrored designs followed the principle of axial symmetry and avoided repetitive patterns all over the work, creating these designs was very difficult at the time of production, and when created during weaving, complex techniques such as embossing and Ikat were used. Therefore, the designs were often created with finishing processes such as Qalamkar printing and Ruduzi (embroidery) like Cheshmeh-duzi, Rashti-duzi (Rasht embroidery), and Golabatoon-duzi. The results of this study indicated that symmetrical (mirrored) designs as Mihrabi and Toranj-dar with floral motifs were the most frequent ones in the production and weaving of Qajar textile hangings used as louvers, curtains, wall hangings (particularly during ceremonies and feasts), and Taqcheh, mantelpiece, and tent coverings despite the use of other designs and motifs (even plain forms). Nonetheless, human and animal motifs were also used, although less frequently, in Mihrabi design and geometric motifs were used in both Mihrabi and Toranj-dar designs according to the weaving technique (Cheshmeh-duzi). Therefore, although other designs including Vagireh, Katibeh, and Ravai or even plain textiles were also used, Mihrabi and Toranj-dar designs with floral motifs or minor human and animal forms, particularly in Mihrabi design, were the most used textile hangings in living spaces during the Qajar period. They were supplemented by floral forms and sometimes animal motifs following the “Gereft-o-gir” (animal fight) motif or birds on branches of trees, for which Qalamkar printing was often used. In sum, textile hangings in various colors and qualities resulting from different production techniques were used in living spaces during the Qajar period in Iran. The textile hangings were used to refine the living space and the most frequent designs were Mihrabi and Toranj-dar, respectively, with the dominance of the floral motif. This article was extracted from the first author’s research project titled ''Analysis and Categorization of the Designs and Motifs on Qajar Textiles (1796–1925 AD)''. Approved by the Research Center of Traditional Arts in Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism organization (RICHT), this in-progress project aims to link University of Art in Tehran with the society and industry.