Looms for knotted rugs: horizontal ground looms (nomads) and vertical looms (villages and workshops)
Research finding · not yet checked at the source
- Date
- undated tradition
- Materials
- wood, metal
- Themes
- Rug-making techniques, Tools & equipment
Cite this source
Research notes
How they work: nomadic weavers use a horizontal loom with the warp stretched between two beams staked close to the ground. The weaver sits on the finished part, and the loom can be taken down and rebuilt at each camp, which sources link to the uneven shapes of tribal rugs. Settled weavers use vertical looms with two horizontal beams held by rigid side posts. On the simplest village type, finished sections (about 1.2–1.5 m) are rolled onto the lower beam and the warp is adjusted, while the weaver sits on a raised bench. Fixed workshop looms allow bigger and finer rugs. The search returned the Encyclopaedia Iranica 'Carpets xiv' entry but not its text. Detail comes from dealer guides (Nazmiyal, PCG Australia, Pak Persian Rugs), so the wording is not confirmed by a scholarly source. No dated early loom was found. Sources: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/carpets-xiv · https://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/blog/loom-stories-how-vertical-and-horizontal-looms-shape-design/ · https://pcgaustralia.com/blogs/rugs/the-loom-a-guide-to-traditional-rug-weaving-tools Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.