Craft comparison

Under review

Persian carpet vs Termeh

فرش ایرانی · ترمه

Persian carpet: A hand-knotted pile textile woven across Iran in city workshops, village looms and pastoral camps, distinguished by regional structure, palette and design vocabulary. Termeh: A patterned Iranian brocade woven with supplementary wefts, historically in silk and wool, associated above all with Yazd and Kerman.

Side by side

Persian carpetTermeh
Persian nameفرش ایرانیترمه
CategoryTextiles · Knotted pileTextiles · Brocade
Materialswool, silk, cotton, natural-dyessilk, wool, natural-dyes
Techniquesknotted-pile-weavingsupplementary-weft-brocade
Regionstabriz, isfahan, kashan, kerman, qom, shiraz, sistan-baluchestankerman, yazd
Periodssafavid, qajar, pahlavi, contemporarysafavid, qajar, contemporary
Motifsshah-abbasi, herati, boteh, eslimi-arabesqueboteh, eslimi-arabesque
Current vitalityLiving traditionAt risk

What they share

  • Materials: wool, silk, natural-dyes
  • Regions: kerman
  • Motifs: boteh, eslimi-arabesque
  • Periods: safavid, qajar, contemporary

How to tell them apart

  • Materials such as cotton point towards Persian carpet.
  • Persian carpet typically involves knotted-pile-weaving.
  • Termeh typically involves supplementary-weft-brocade.
  • The stated place of making is a useful clue, but never proof on its own.

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Disclaimer

This comparison is educational and built from entries still under review. It cannot confirm what a particular object is.