Sarouk Handwoven Carpet

Familiarity with Sarouk handwoven carpet

Sarouk village is located in Farahan region, 48 kilometers from Arak city, at an altitude of 1810 meters above sea level. The most famous product of the village is its hand-woven carpet, which was once considered one of the most important export goods of Iran (in recent years, Sarouk has turned into a city). The well-textured and colored carpets of Sarouk have made it famous since about one or two centuries ago. Sarouk is a well-known name among collectors and sellers of handmade carpets in Iran and abroad. Carpet scholars admire the Sarouk world and especially its old hand-woven carpets such as Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan carpets. In this global success, in addition to the excellent characteristics of texture and authentic colors that have always been present in Sarouk carpets, the initial promotion of Ziegler and its other foreign partners, who introduced these carpets to foreign markets for the first time, was a very important and valuable factor. Is. In this article, we are going to introduce you to the features of the handmade carpets of this region.

Sarouk Carpet (Commercial Sarouk)

The production history of Sarouk handwoven carpets is relatively new and reaches around the second half of the 19th century. Sarouk weavers have always started their work under specific and controlled principles and rules and have always been able to maintain the status of their carpets in the turbulent and competitive global markets by following these criteria. The old Sarouk carpets have been of great interest due to their smooth and delicate pattern, soft and lively colors and very precise and strong texture, and they have gained a lot of fame especially in the Iranian carpet market. The carpets of this region are often woven in broken or curved branch patterns, usually with lace and bergamot designs and flower bouquets. Carpet weaving is a part of the life of the people of Sarouk region; In such a way that its threads are intertwined with the fabric of their lives and its roles are indicative of the roles of their thoughts, feelings, tastes, desires and values. The history, economy, art and culture of the people of this region have been reflected in the carvings of the carpets of this region, to the extent that Sarouk without its carpets is like a soulless body. This art-craft has been preserved in Sarouk for about 700 years.

Carpets known as American Sarouk 

At the end of the First World War, an American carpet trading company created a number of designs according to American taste from among the common patterns in Sarouk and Arak, and later these patterns became known as American Sarouk. Two-ply long-pile rugs of various sizes on a red background with navy and light beige borders were woven in large numbers and exported to America. These designs do not have quadruple elastics, and in most examples, the middle fringes do not have lines separating the fringes and the text, unlike the traditional fringes of Iranian carpets. In the text of these carpets, bouquets of flowers and large complex leaves, which are surrounded by small flowers, can be seen individually and separately.

Sarouk Mashayekhi rug

One of the most important and famous new Sarouk carpets is known as Mashayikhi (a kind of fish design) whose lath and fringe are very similar to Bijar carpets. Mashaikhi design is a product whose producer intends to revive the traditional Sarouk designs and has woven half of the carpet with geometric motifs and the other half with Herati flowers and bushes. Only by correctly maintaining the intricate fish patterns, which in practice will not be as easy to produce as fully rotating designs, the weaver has created a standard in his design that is admirable as an innovation in a traditional society.

The weaving technique of Sarouk carpets

The knot used in the carpets of this region is Persian (asymmetric). The wefting in old Sarouk carpets is thin and mostly blue or pink. In some old Sarouk carpets, a third weft is used after every ten rows of knots. Doors are used both horizontally and vertically.   
Authentic Sarouk rugs are mostly produced in the size of 2.10 x 1.30 and 1.54 x 1.04 inches, but larger rugs are also available in the market called Sarouk. In the past, most Sarouk rugs were inspired by the bergamot pattern. Due to their fine texture and short piles, these carpets looked like a hard and compact board and at the same time soft. These features made Sarouk carpet famous all over Iran and the world.

Color scheme in Sarouk carpet

One of the other characteristics of Sarouk carpets is its colors, which in addition to the background color, which is mostly cream and azure, more colors in copper, dougi, oak, red, beige and blue materials are used in the background of the carpet. The common colors used in Sarouk carpets are: blue or light blue for lath, and old pink and red are used for bergamot, frames or flowers. Blue green is used to paint the flowers and ivory white, very light brown and blue are used for the carpet background. In the old Sarouk carpets, only natural colors are used with soft and delicate colors. An effect of Runas color, which is known as buttermilk red, from the combination of Runas coloring matter (of course, Runas is a car and wild plant that has a different red color in different periods of growth, from purple copper to crimson red or dark fawn) and buttermilk. which contains lactic acid, which is special for Arak and Qom carpets. The soft copper red color that is baked and polished over time also gives the carpet a velvety effect. Especially those that are woven with fine and delicate wool. Sarouk weavers usually decorate the borders of their carpets with samouri motifs, crab motifs or classic Shah Abbasi motifs.

New changes in Sarouk carpet

Currently, changes have been made in the map, color, text and length of the piles in the Sarouk carpet. In this way, the maps are in the form of a national plan of flowers and leaves. 80% of the text is in flower color and the height of the feathers reaches 10 mm. Rajshmar is also between 25 and 35 knots per 6.5 square centimeters and Persian (asymmetrical) knots are used in the weave. At present, more than 60% of the handwoven carpet production in Arak region is Saruq type. There is always a kind of uniformity in the design of Sarouk carpets. So that there is not much variation in the maps. The difference between Sarouk carpet and other areas is in the type of knots used. This means that the Persian knot is used in the authentic Sarouk carpet.

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