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The Modernization of Iran and the Development of the Persian Carpet Industry: The Neo-Classical Era in the Persian Carpet Industry, 1925–45

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Martin Rudner
Martin Rudner*
Affiliation:
Emeritus at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa
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Abstract

The two decades, 1925–45, witnessed a dramatic transformation and revitalization of the Persian carpet industry in response to developments in Iranian governance, society and economy. Two historical watersheds were covered by that period, notably the replacement of the Qajar dynasty by a modernizing administration under Reza Shah Pahlavi, and the subsequent wartime occupation of Iran jointly by the Soviet Union and Great Britain. It was during those two decades that Iran acquired a centralized system of government and the beginnings of a modern industrial base. The accompanying social transformation brought about the emergence of new classes of administrators and managers who constituted the dominant elite of the Reza Shah era. This twin process of centralization and modernization had a telling impact on Iranian culture and the arts, including the carpet arts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 49 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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Footnotes

I wish to express my gratitude to Rippon Boswell & Co. AG of Switzerland, and its Chairman Mr Samuel Wennek, for their generous support for the research that enabled the undertaking of this study, and for the provision of photographs of examples from the Soleyman Moradpour Collection of fine Persian carpets to accompany its publication. I am also grateful to Iain Stewart for comments on an earlier draft and his valuable input to the preparation of this study, and to the Iranian Studies reviewer for constructive advice.

References

1 Cecil Edwards, The Persian Carpet. A Survey of the Carpet Weaving Industry of Persia (London, 1975; reprinted).

2 On the Persian carpet arts during the classic Safavid period, circa 1587–1628, see Bennett, Ian, ed., Rugs and Carpets of the World (New York, 1977), esp. 44–69Google Scholar; Wilfred Singer, G., “Persian Carpets,” in Persia: History and Heritage, ed. Boyle, John A. (London, 1978)Google Scholar; for a scholarly treatment of the subject see Ettinghausen, Richard and Yarshater, Ehsan, eds., Highlights of Persian Art (Boulder, CO, 1979)Google Scholar.

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5 On the role of the 1891 Vienna exhibition in cultivating a reborn European taste for Turkish, Persian and other oriental carpets see Bennett, Ian, “Art for the Times: Vienna in the 1890s,” Hali, 8 (1986): 40–44Google Scholar.

6 Rudner, Martin, “Town Carpets from Pahlavi Iran,” Hali, 6 (1984): 387Google Scholar.

7 Cf. Karshenas, Massoud, Oil, State and Industrialization in Iran (Cambridge, 1990), 69Google Scholar, n. 7 and Table 3.4; Moore, “Textile Museum Rug Conference and Exhibition Celebrates Persian Carpets.”

8 See Wilbur, Donald, “Heriz Rugs,” Hali, 6 (1983): 2–12Google Scholar, for a study of the early connection between Heriz carpet producers and the trading center in Tabriz.

9 United Kingdom, Diplomatic and Consular Report for the Years 1902–1904 on the Trade of Azerbaijan, Cmd. 3308: 9.

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15 Rudner, “Town Carpets from Pahlavi Iran,” 388.

16 Cf. Stroh, L., “The American Market Place,” Hali, 4 (1982): 184Google Scholar.

17 For a brief history of the Iran Carpet Company, see Hans Gunther, Schwartz, “The Iran Carpet Company,” Hali, 6 (1984): 409Google Scholar. This state-owned enterprise never succeeded in making significant inroads into the predominantly private carpet trade, and accounted for a mere 5 percent of total transactions by the 1960s.

18 Cf. Rudner, “Town Carpets from Pahlavi Iran,” 388–391.

19 On the impact of the Great Depression and wartime occupation on the economy of Iran, see Bharier, Julian, Economic Development in Iran, 1900–1970 (London, 1971)Google Scholar.

20 A British consular report from the Qajar period noted that “(Tabriz) carpets cost too much to produce, though perhaps the most beautiful in Persia, are manufactured at a loss or, at least, do not fetch remunerative prices”: United Kingdom, Diplomatic and Consular Report for the Years 1902–04 on the Trade of Azerbaijan, Cmd. 3308: 9.

21 Personal communication, Iain Stewart.

22 Edwards, The Persian Carpet; Rudner, “Town Carpets from Pahlavi Iran,” 388.

23 The Secret Wealth of Persia, The Moradpour Collection of Persian Carpets, Provenance & Art Historical Background, vol. 2 (London, 2008), 118 ff and 158ff. See also Edwards, The Persian Carpet, 338.

24 Wilbur, “The Triumph of Bad Taste,” 193.

25 Cf. Edwards, The Persian Carpet, chapter on Kerman; Azadi, Siawosch, Persian Carpets. Catalogue of Inauguration of the Carpet Museum in Teheran (Teheran, 1977)Google Scholar.

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27 Fokker, Nicolas, Persian and other Oriental Carpets for Today (London, 1973):79Google Scholar.

28 Cf. Edwards, The Persian Carpet, chapter on Kashan.

29 Seager, “Persian Carpets—Some Basic Principles.”

30 Personal communication, Iain Stewart.

31 Lafontaine, R., “Present State of the Trade in Persia,” Carpet Annual 1936 (London, 1936)Google Scholar.

32 Bharier, Economic Development in Iran, 1900–1970.

33 On the Iranian experience of wartime occupation see Ward, Steven, The Immortals. A Military History of Iran and its Armed Forces (Washington, DC, 2009)Google Scholar, esp. chap. 6; and Bharier, Economic Development in Iran 1900–1970.