Article by "Iran Carpet Company", 2000

Iran Carpet Company was established in 1935 by a decree of the then government, following the dissolution of the “Eastern Carpet Manufacturing Company”, which was a non-Iranian property. Indeed the Eastern Carpet Manufacturing Co. had itself come into existence subsequent to the expanded activities of Baker’s Company set up by Cecil Edwards. Following the death of Charles Edwards, after a short while, Cecil Edwards, keen to pursue the activities of the Baker’s Company cleared the path for its continued functioning and soon after his return to Iran in 1911, he expanded the scope of the activities of the company by establishing three main and fully operative branches in the cities of Kerman, Arak and Hamadan. Thus, through changing its name to the Eastern Carpet Manufacturing Company, the Baker’s Company officially started and continued its carpet weaving operation in Iran under the new name.

This company grew rapidly and established sales centers in 7 major cities of the world, London, Paris, New York, Sidney, Constantinople, Buenos Aires and Toronto, while the city of Izmir in Turkey was chosen to house the company’s headquarters. But, finally, on February 3, 1936, the then government of Iran ordered the closure of the afore-cited company in a bid to revive the carpet weaving craftsmanship in the country; and following the order, all activities of that company were closed down and the management of the company, as well as all its assets were handed over the Iran Carpet Company.

Although according to the existing evidences, a great number of the carpets, produced by the company, were still in its possession until at least 1939, the transfer of the company laid a sound foundation for the operations of the Iran Carpet Company from the very outset to the extent that today (2000) this company backed by over 65 years of valuable professional experience, inherited from Iranian skillful workers, from those eras is regarded as one of the most unique producers of carpet in the world, entrusted with the task of preserving the worthiness of Iranian past heritage and keeping alive the art and craft of carpet weaving in Iran.

One of the major objectives of Iran Carpet Company has been to obtain high-class raw materials and ensure their proper use in the carpets manufactured under its auspices. This objective materialized in 1954, when factories were established in the city of Karaj, for the production of quality raw materials, needed by the country’s carpet industry. With nearly 50 years of experience, they produce the best quality wool balls and offer such services as sorting, washing, spinning and dying in conformity with the highest standards in Iran and throughout the world.

Given the carefully-observed weaving criteria of Iran Carpet Company, the most outstanding features of the products of this company may be summarized as follows:

1- The wool used in the carpets made by this company is a homogeneous ivory spring wool of grade 1 category and of the finest make. The washing, dying and spinning units of Karaj factories transform this wool into yarns, used in the production of the carpet.

2- The wool purchased by the company, which is chosen from the highest quality stock, are sorted out into various categories, according to their usage and in terms of the physical properties of the wool, such as its curl, length and micron. These are the factors that guarantee the durability and steadfastness of the carpets, made by Iran Carpet Company.

3- To make the carpet pile more resistance against wear and tear, the wool yarns used in the company’s carpets are entirely two-ply with the extra ply meant to increase the pile’s resistance and make it more wear-proof.

4- Dying process in Iran Carpet Company is inspired by traditional practices. All the dyes used in the company’s carpets are obtained from plant or animal sources, including in particular madder roots, walnut shell, pomegranate rind, vine leaves, cochineal (reddish bead) with black dried curd and soured yogurt used as auxiliary substances for better absorption of the dyes. Carpets, in which natural dyes have been used, usually have a longer durability and obtain special vividness and beauty with the passage of time, hence acquiring greater value steadily.

5- Yarns used in Iran Carpet Company are mothproof and will remain so as long as the carpet is in existence.

6- Cotton threads used in warps and wefts of the carpets produced by Iran Carpet Company are of pure cotton spun in 3 plies with circular finish. Furthermore, in order to make the threads more resistant and durable, they are wetted before being put on spinning machine.

7- All the weft threads used in the company’s carpets are dyed in blue before use, so that when washed the carpet will not shrink widthwise. Moreover, this coloring procedure will give the carpet special glamour, when it is aged. Warps and wefts of the company’s carpets are absolutely free from artificial yarns.

With the most experienced pattern-drawers and carpet dyers at its disposal, Iran Carpet Company runs the largest carpet designing unit in Iran, supported by skilled work force of over 40.

The company prepares all the drawings and designs needed for its own production and additionally has the ability to meet varied demands of carpet producing units across the country for the most exquisite and original Iranian designs.

As the drawing unit has began its work simultaneously with the inception of the company itself, it is worthy of mention that the said unit has already accomplished its performance over 65 years of experience in the field of carpet designing. Bolstered by valuable collection of mother designs in excess of 2000 samples, the drawing unit of Iran Carpet Company makes the best use of such designs in its carpets.

The unit is also prepared to make its unparallel collections available to all carpet manufacturing workshops in the country and take orders from within or from abroad for any design suiting the special tastes and styles of the customers in keeping with the originality of Iranian carpet drawing.

The address of the central office of Iran Carpet Company is:
No. 6, Kalantari St., Qarani Ave., Tehran
Phone: 98 21 8890 9217/9
Fax: 98 21 8890 6059