More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'ConnellThe Carpet of Wonder - The Processes of WeavingSee also The Carpet of Wonder - Introduction and The Carpet of Wonder - the Art, The Carpet of Wonder - the Mosque In 1996 the Iran Carpet Co. received a contract at the order of the Diwan of the Royal Court of Sultanate of Oman to cover the entire floor of the main praying hall of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. This order was unprecedented. The contract called for the carpet to be the Largest Hand Made Carpet in the history of the world. Not just the largest but more than four times larger then the previous world's largest carpet. The carpet was also to be an artistic marvel.
Such an opportunity would crush a lesser company but the Iran Carpet Company set about to not only make the carpet but also to deliver it in three years. To accomplish 4343 square meters in only three years Iran Carpet Co. set up a massive operation in Nishabour in the Khorasan province of Iran. To translate the curved surface of the dome into a flat pattern for a carpet was no simple task. The radiating lobes of the medallion were adjusted to match the enormous size of the carpet. In the Shaykh Lutfallah Mosque Dome the radiating lobes are of equal size, however the designers were able to catch the essence of a curved dome by increasing the size of the lobes as they move away from the central point of the design. Doing this allowed them to match the pattern to what the eye sees when one looks up while standing in the dome chamber the Shaykh Lutfallah Mosque. It also compliments the Mosque dome over head. The process was so complex that the ICC applied for intellectual property rights to protect their method of translating the design. 1.7 billion knotsFour thousand three hundred and forty three square meters translates to 1.7 billion knots. To tie 1.7 billion knots ICC assembled a team of 600 workers including 500 weavers working in two shifts. These women worked under strict supervision to maintain the intricate design. As we can see in The Carpet of Wonder - the Art when we compare this carpet to the legendary Ardabil ICC was able maintain a high standard that avoids the wandering pattern and implementation errors that we see in the Ardabil. To produce this carpet ICC invested 12 million person/ hours to produce this 22 ton masterpiece. See also The Carpet of Wonder - Introduction The Carpet of Wonder - the Art Thanks to the Iran Carpet Co. the producers of the Carpet of Wonder. They have been kind enough to supply me with information and the images that made this article possible. Special thanks to Mr. Yazdi and Mr. Karimi who was the Managing Director when this was written. |
