Nain rugs are constructed using the Persian knot and can be between 300 and 700 knots per inch. The pile is usually very high quality wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

, clipped short and silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

 is most usually used as highlighting for parts of the detailing in the design. Some pieces are made entirely of silk. Nain rugs are often made in the areas surrounding the Nain town, not necessarily the town itself. Nains utilize the Shah Abbas design and make use of flowing design such as flowers and tendrils.

Nain

Nain, Iran

Nain is a city in and the capital of Nain County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 24,424, in 6,950 families.It has one of the earliest remaining mosques in Iran, and has a Sassanid era fort, now in ruins, called Narin Ghal'eh....

 is a small town in the centre of Iran, very close to the famous city of Esfahan. Previous to the beginning of the 20th Century, it was well known for producing high quality handmade woollen cloth. Due to a decline in that business the town commissioned weavers from Esfahan to create hand knotted rugs. This link is still obvious when looking at contemporary Nain rugs, but they do exhibit a style of their own, using often highlightings of blue on cream or ivory

Ivory

Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...

 backgrounds. Depending on fineness the warp and weft will be either silk or cotton. Most usually cotton is employed, with varying levels of ply referred to as "la", with the lower numbers meaning finer quality.

Nowadays Nain itself only produces very fine 4 or 6 La quality. Other 9 La and 12 La are produced mostly in Khorasan

Razavi Khorasan Province

Razavi Khorasan Province is a province located in northeastern Iran. Mashhad is the centre and capital of the province.Other cities and townships are Ghouchan, Dargaz, Chenaran, Sarakhs, Fariman, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Torbat-e Jam, Taybad, Khaf, Roshtkhar, Kashmar, Bardaskan, Nishapur, Sabzevar,...

 region i.e. Kashmar

Kashmar

Kashmar is a city in and the capital of Kashmar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Kashmar is located near the river Sish Taraz in the western part of the province, and south of the province's capital Mashhad, in Iran, from east to Bardaskan, west to Torbat-e Heydarieh, north to...

, Mashhad

Mashhad

Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...

.

Nain rug designers

By far the most famous and influential Nain masterweaver is Habibian, and rugs produced from his workshop are among the finest and most sought after carpets in the world.
Another famous rug and carpet designers in Nain is Reza Jafari Naini who lives in Nain. He is affected by his own tremendous thought of the art, to create such carpet and rug designations. In 1998, one of his designs won the first place in machinery carpet exhibition, it had been designed for the Farshe Kabire Yazd Co. He has taught many trainers with this great and traditional art in his small workshop which is next to his home in Nain.

External links

• Nain and Qum Rugs
• www.rug22bux.com