Gabbeh
Encyclopedia
Gabbeh carpets, sometimes spelled 'Gabbe' are a traditional variety of Persian carpet. Gabbeh is pronounced as gava in Kurdish
and Luri and is also called Khersak in Bakhtiari
. A Gabbeh a hand-woven pile rug of coarse quality and medium size (90 x 150 cm or larger) characterized by an abstract design that relies upon open fields of color and a playfulness with geometry. This type of rug is popular among tribes of the Zagros Mountains
of Iran
, including Kurdish
, Luri and Qashqai
tribes. The Gabbeh is usually crafted by women.
'Gabbeh' carpet is much thicker and coarser than other Persian carpets; sometimes it is as much as one inch in depth. In fact, it is more of a variety of kilim than carpet. The word 'Gabbeh' comes from the Persian
meaning raw, natural, uncut. This is a rough and primitive carpet.
Gabbeh patterns are of a very basic kind with only a limited number of decorative, mostly rectangular objects resembling mainly animals. In Gabbeh usually bright colors, such as yellow and red, are used. Although large fields of solid color are used in Gabbeh designs, the color is variegated (the color varies throughout the rug).
Gabbehs are made of natural, handspun wool yarn and all the colors are created with natural plant dye
. Due to its relative ease of production (less precise pattern, small number of knots per square centimeter, etc.) a Gabbe is one of the less expensive varieties of Persian carpet.
These days weavers from Pakistan are making Persian Gabbehs. For example, they are producing natural-dyed, hand-spun Gabbeh rugs in the Balochistan area in Pakistan. Balochistan province of Pakistan neighbors Iran and shares the persian language/culture
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
and Luri and is also called Khersak in Bakhtiari
Bakhtiari dialect
Bakhtiari dialect is a southwestern Iranian dialect, spoken by Bakhtiari people in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari, western Khuzestan and parts of Isfahan and Lorestan provinces. It is closely related to the Boir-Aḥmadī, Kohgīlūya, and Mamasanī dialects in northwestern Fars. These dialects, together with...
. A Gabbeh a hand-woven pile rug of coarse quality and medium size (90 x 150 cm or larger) characterized by an abstract design that relies upon open fields of color and a playfulness with geometry. This type of rug is popular among tribes of the Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, including Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
, Luri and Qashqai
Qashqai
Qashqai are the largest group of nomadic pastoralists people of Azeri descent who mainly live in the provinces of Fars, Khuzestan and southern Isfahan on the territory of modern Iran, especially around the city of Shiraz in Fars. They speak the Qashqai language which is a member of the Turkic...
tribes. The Gabbeh is usually crafted by women.
'Gabbeh' carpet is much thicker and coarser than other Persian carpets; sometimes it is as much as one inch in depth. In fact, it is more of a variety of kilim than carpet. The word 'Gabbeh' comes from the Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
meaning raw, natural, uncut. This is a rough and primitive carpet.
Gabbeh patterns are of a very basic kind with only a limited number of decorative, mostly rectangular objects resembling mainly animals. In Gabbeh usually bright colors, such as yellow and red, are used. Although large fields of solid color are used in Gabbeh designs, the color is variegated (the color varies throughout the rug).
Gabbehs are made of natural, handspun wool yarn and all the colors are created with natural plant dye
Natural dye
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources – roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood — and other organic sources such as fungi and lichens....
. Due to its relative ease of production (less precise pattern, small number of knots per square centimeter, etc.) a Gabbe is one of the less expensive varieties of Persian carpet.
These days weavers from Pakistan are making Persian Gabbehs. For example, they are producing natural-dyed, hand-spun Gabbeh rugs in the Balochistan area in Pakistan. Balochistan province of Pakistan neighbors Iran and shares the persian language/culture