Beauty
from Persian Highland Sheep's Wool
Secret of the quality
The magic of the colours
Play of light and shade
The important art of dyeing
Beauty
from Persian Highland Sheep's Wool
In
accordance with handed-down tradition Dastafarin carpets are
made by hand. They are made from pure sheep's wool which comes from the
flocks of the nomads. Even the processing of the high-quality wool into
a fine yarn is still partly in the hands of the owners of the flocks.
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The carpets made for Dastafarin mainly by the Gasghai-Nomads are made from the wool of the very robust fat-tailed- or wide-tailed sheep. A characteristic quality of this sheep's wool is the very large content of wool fat (lanolin).
This
fat makes the wool so soft that extremely fine threads can be woven. Especially
the wool from the first shearing after the winter contains a lot of lanolin.
The final product – the carpet – therefore is not so easily
soiled.
The
wool of animals which have access to good pasture and plentiful water
is very durable and resistant. In addition, animals which have to survive
extreme weather conditions, provide the best wool. These features of product
and quality are always taken into account for high-quality Dastafarin carpets.
But feeling must also play a role in the purchase of a Kelim, Lhori or
Gabbeh.
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The overall visual impression of a carpet is determined by the design of the motifs and patterns and by the radiance and intensity of the colours. Harmonic compositions in colour and design inspire the senses. An important reason for Dastafarin to use exclusively natural dyes.
The
foundations for sparkling colours with natural radiance are already laid
by the careful washing of the wool. The softer the water and the lighter
the wool is washed, the better it takes the dye and then its radiance
is even more brilliant.
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The
reason natural dyes are better than synthetic ones can be easily explained.
In contrast with chemical dyes the spectrum of natural dyes already contain
the respective secondary dyes. In sunlight they reflect parts of their
secondary dyes as well as their main dye, and this has a subduing and
harmonising effect.
We
find natural dyes in organic material, in plants and animals. The well-known
blue dye is derived from the leaves and stems of the indigo bush. In indigo
blue there is one part red and a little yellow. The madder red from the
roots of the Rubia tinctorum likewise has yellow parts. As a result natural
dyes can be combined as wished without creating a gaudy or unharmonious
effect.
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Dyeing
wool is often a lengthy and costly process. The majority of natural dyes
are mordant dyes, but vat dyes and direct dyes are also used. Therefore,
basically three dyeing techniques are differentiated.
Mordant dyeing: so that the dye binds with the wool permanently, before dyeing the fibres are treated with a natural mordant agent. Bog mud, yoghurt, acidic and mineral substance containing vegetable sap, for instance from spurge or the walnut tree are suitable.
Vat dyeing: the process is named after the vat (barrel) or tub, in which dyes such as indigo are dissolved from the plant.
Direct dyeing: a bath which is obtained by soaking and cooking onion peel, hay, acorns and other plants and woods is used for dyeing. The results are colourfast shades from reddish brown to yellowish brown and yellowish green.
The
use of natural dyes gives each carpet its unique elegance. Moreover, the
excellent colourfastness of the old tried and tested natural dyes is a
point in their favour. In addition, natural dyes run less and are less
sensitive to light than synthetic fibres.
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