Shiraz

Shiraz is a meeting point for goods made across Fars and beyond. Its bazaar offers a useful starting point for studying trade, but it should not be mistaken for one unified weaving school. Urban retail, village production and mobile pastoral households occupy different positions in the history of a textile. An invoice should distinguish the shop address from the seller's proposed place of manufacture.

Names such as Qashqai and Khamseh refer to complex community histories, not fixed design templates. Makers move, workshops exchange designs and dealers use broad commercial categories. Preserve a qualified attribution rather than turning it into certainty because a rug contains familiar animals, diamonds or a particular border.

Gabbeh is encountered as a pile textile, kilim as a flatweave and namad as felt. Compare the edge and reverse before relying on visual simplicity or a bold palette. A sparse design does not prove gabbeh manufacture, and a geometric pattern is not enough to identify a particular flatweave structure. A clear construction description is more informative than a generic tribal label.

Felt has a matted fibre structure rather than interlaced warp and weft. A photograph may not make that distinction visible, particularly when a textile has an applied backing. Ask for close views of an exposed edge without cutting or pulling fibres. Added backing and later display mounts belong in the condition record.

A decorated bag face can be visually striking after its plain back and closures have been removed. Those missing parts matter: they explain carrying, storage and assembly. Ask whether a cushion or wall panel retains a complete original object or only a converted component. Conversion is a change in function and should be described even when the result is attractive.

Wear at fold lines, loops and joins can suggest use, but it cannot independently establish age. Old repairs, new lining and replaced side bindings can overlap in one textile. Photograph the front, back and edges before mounting, then keep the repair description with any collection history.

For new work, ask for a maker statement about production location, technique and materials. If a maker's community identity is mentioned, use their own wording and obtain consent before publishing personal information. Do not present a photograph of a person in traditional dress as evidence for the authorship of an unrelated rug.

For older work, record the dealer's attribution as an attribution and ask how it was formed. Muted colours do not prove natural dyes, nor does roughness prove hand production. Compare published structural evidence, not only room photographs. Confirm market access and export requirements through current sources, and avoid unsupported claims about private household visits.