Carpet glossary: G-I

Gabbeh carpets, handknotted nomad carpets from the province of Fars in southern Iran.

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Gashghai carpet, a different name for Ghashghai carpets.

Garden pattern, Kheshti, also called mosaic or panel design. Usually occuring among Bakhtiari carpets for example and the pattern consists of stylized tree and floral motifs in squares (even ovals occur). The earliest existence of this design were found in Persia in the 16th century.

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Gendje carpets, a different name for Gjandzja carpets.

Genuine carpets, a common but, not suitable denomination on handknotted Oriental carpets.

Georavan carpets, handknotted carpets from the village Georavan nearby Heriz, Iran.

Gerus carpets, handknotted carpets from the district of Gerus, Iran.

Gharaghan carpets, handknotted strong carpets in dark colours from the district of Kurdistan, Iran.

Ghashghai carpets, also called Qashqai, Gaschgai, Gashghai, Kashgai carpets . Handknotted carpets from the province of Fars in southern Iran.

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Ghiasabad, situated nearby Ghom close to the Sarough province. Also the place for manufacturing carpets with very shiny mohair wool, similar to Farahan carpets.

Ghiordes carpets, handknotted carpets from the city Ghiordes (Gördes) in western Turkey. The size of the carpets are often Dozar or smaller and with prayer niche motifs, larger carpets have medallions. Ghiordes carpets from before 1880 have a considerably higher technical and artistic quality than later examples.

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Ghiordes knot, a different namn for the Turkish knot, named after the city Ghiordes (Gördes) in Turkey.

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Ghom carpets, Qom, Ghome, Gom, Khum carpets, exclusive handknotted carpets from the city Ghom, Iran.

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Gjandzja carpets, Gendje carpets, handknotted carpets from the area surrounding the city Gjandzja in Caucasia. The geometrical pattern on the carpet is related to the ones found on Karabach and Kazak carpets.

Goat hair, denomination for the rough hair covering the goat. Mostly used for warp and weft yarns and in some cases also for the sewn edges on the carpets long sides.

Golden Afghan carpets, denomination of Afghan carpets that originally been red, but now is bleached to a bronze-yellow nuance. It is also implies that the carpets have been knotted with a golden dyed wool.

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Golpayegan, knotted in the western parts of central Persia in the Sarough area. The carpets are manufactured in a number of different patterns and often comes with a centrally placed medallion and a distinct defined border. The carpets are very durable with patterns clearly inspired from the 19th century British colonial power.

Goltugh carpets, Goltuk, Koltuk, Qoltug carpets , handknotted carpets from the area around the city Zanjan in northwestern Iran. The carpets are named after a Kurdish tribe and differs from usual Zanjan carpets through the double wefts, the very firm structure and their very high quality. The pattern usually consists of a hexagon in the middle surrounded by stylized floral motifs in beige, red and brown colours.

Guerati pattern, a rough stylized floral motif, covering the whole inner section. Commonly used on Beshir carpets.

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Gujar-Khan carpets, handknotted carpets from a smaller place southeast of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Gwalior carpets, handknotted carpets from Gwalior in India.

Gül, (Persian gol "rose") , denomination of a floral motif on Oriental carpets.

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Göl, elephantfoot-like, often octagonal repetitive pattern.

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Habibian, famous carpet knotter from Iran. Fathollah Habibian was born in 1903 (d 1995) in Nain and together with his brother they started carpet manufacturing in 1920. Today, he is called "the father of Nain carpets" by many people in the line of business. Genuine Habibian carpets are very hard to find today, making some knotters to put a false signature on carpets of lower quality. Nain carpets from Habibian are available with 6La and 4La but never with 9La.

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Hali, the worlds leading magazine about Oriental carpets and textiles. It was founded in London in 1978, issued 6 times a year and is published by HALI Publications Ltd., which is owned by the magazine publisher Centaur Communications.

Link to the homepage of the magazine.

Hamadan carpets, handknotted village carpets manufactured in a large number of villages around the city of Hamadan in northwestern Iran.

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Hamedan carpets, a different name for Hamadan carpets.

Hand of Fatima, a stylized symbol that looks like a hand with five fingers representing "the five columns of Islam" (the prayer, the lent, the faith, the pilgrimage and the alms) . This symbol occurs as an amulet and sometimes also as motifs on Iranian and Caucasian praying carpets.

Hatchlu pattern, common pattern on Turkoman tent curtains, engsi. The pattern consists of four fields and the space between the fields form a cross, hatchlu. The cross has no religious meaning.

Herat-baluch carpets, (see Beluch carpets) handknotted carpets from the border districts between Iran and Afghanistan.

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Hemp, (Cannabis sativa) is a plant that originates from Central Asia. The plant has probably been grown for more than 4500 years. Hemp is an annual herb that is nowadays grown in mainly three groups; as fibres, for hemp-oil and for medical and narcotic stimulants. The advantage with hemp fiber is that it is strong, durable and not affected by water. Today hemp fibres are used in for example carpets, but also in ropes, strings and nets.

Herati pattern, after the city of Herat in northwestern Afghanistan.

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Holbein carpets, handknotted carpets manufactured near Bergamo. It is an older type of carpets named after the painter Holbein.

Hosseinabad carpets, Huseinabad carpets, handknotted carpets from the village of Hosseinabad in northwestern Persia. Thick and rough carpets that are knotted with a Turkish knot. The pattern consists of a so-called Herati, inspired by older Ferahan carpets.

Hunting carpet, usually a handknotted carpet dominated by hunting motifs.

Hunting motif, a common motif on Persian carpets, believed to originate from Chinese paintings and its hunting scenes. In the motifs one can often see hunters on their horses, deers, predators and flowery trees - all surrounded by a heavy border.

Hyderabad carpets, handknotted carpets from the city of Hyderabad, northeast of Karachi in Pakistan.

Ilan pattern, a string of cloud-like, stylized motif surrounded by smaller motifs covering the rest of the carpet.

Indjelas carpets, a different name for Enjilas carpets.

Indo carpets, handknotted carpets from India.

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Injilas carpets, a different name for Enjilas carpets.

Iranian carpets, a different name for Persian carpets. Read more about Iranian carpets here!

Isfahan carpets, Esfahan carpets, exclusive handknotted carpets from the city of Isfahan in central Iran.

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Isparta carpets, Sparta carpets, handknotted carpets from the city of Isparta in south-western Turkey. The carpets are manufactured in varying sizes, even very large ones. But, since the carpets are of low quality and with copied patterns from Persian carpets they are of poor interest.

Izmir carpets, Smyrna carpets, handknotted carpets that were manufactured in large amounts between 1880-1922 in the area around Izmir-Eskiehir-Isparta. The carpets were exported from Izmir (Smyrna) and given their name by that. They become common in the western homes thanks to low prices that arised from its rough knotting, simple pattern and simple colouring.

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