Mahal
Mahal is a name that is probably derived from the village of
Mahallat in the Arak region of Iran. Mahals encompass the
colours and patterns sought after by many designers.
Malayer
Malayer is a town of approximately 50'000 inhabitants lying southeast
of Hamedan on the road to Arak. Its position in relation to these towns is significant,
for its carpets exhibit characteristics of both Sarouk and Hamedan. Several villages in
the area also produce rugs.
Most Malayer rugs are single wafted; resulting in the white cotton warps being
visible on the reverse. Unlike Hamedan rugs, which tend to be geometrical in design with
large blocks of colour, Malayer rugs are more delicate, often with central medallions.
The borders are particularly attractively drawn, often with a cluster of white motifs
following the line of the main tendrils (or the outline of the central medallions) giving a
lace effect. The village of Tafresh, to the northeast of Malayer in Arak province, produces
similar carpets. Jozan and Manizan produce perhaps the best rugs in the Malayer area: they are
double wafted and more rigid, using natural dyes. Only smaller sizes (Dozars, Zaronim and Pushtis)
are produced.
Mashad
Mashad derives its name from the Arabic 'Al-Mashad' -
mausoleum; this gives us a hint of as to the origins of the city
- it is an important place of Shi'a pilgrimage. It contains the
tombs of the Imam Reza, and of Harun-al-Rashid, patron of Omar
Khayam. Its mosque, with its tomb chamber surmounted by a gilded
dome and line inside with mirror glass, is only one of the
countless ancient buildings dating from the sixteenth century or
earlier: there are colleges, bath houses, caravanserais,
mausoleums etc. Since the city, with its population of perhaps
two million, is situated close to the Afghan frontier, the
population is mixed and includes Afghans, Turkmen's, Indians and
Jews.
Although now near the frontier, Mashad's position was at one
time more central, when the Persian Empire extended further
east. It was part of a network of cities extending into central
Asia: Merv, Tashkent, Samarkand and Herat. As a result the
carpets of Mashad are subtle and sophisticated. They can be
compared to those of Kerman and Isfahan, but are distinguishable
by the use of a different shade of red - a purplish red derived
from cochineal rather than madder which is more usual elsewhere.
The Designs are as intricate as those of Kerman, though, like
Isfahan carpets, they are based ultimately on classical
prototypes. They are often signed, in a cartouche in the middle
of the border at one end. A peculiarity of Mashad carpets is
that they often introduce a narrow band at the end when they
begin to weave, with all the colours they plan to use. The most
famous weaver, working at the turn of the century, was Amoghli.
Milas
Milas rugs are come under Western Anatolian carpets. Milas
(also Milas) lies between Mugla and Kusadasi in the
south-western coastal region of the Aegean. Milas carpets are
among the most sought after Anatolian carpets, owing to their
high quality, with medium to fine knotting and natural colours.
They are divisible into three basic types: The Milas prayer
rugs with its characteristically gathered mihrab shape; The Ada
(island) Milas from the area of Karaova, the field of which
often displays vertically twisted polygons; and The Rare
Medallion Milas whit its mostly yellow-gold medallion on a red
back ground.
Mongolian
Any description of carpet production in Mongolian should be
considered purely speculative The environmental, social,
economic, and artistic conditions for a local production
certainly exit: Mongolian is a very high, dry plateau inhabited
by pastoral tribes of Mongol and Turkic origin, and similar
groups in other areas are known to weave carpets. Yet no
existing piece of any significant age can safely be classified
as Mongolian, nor is there any literary or archaeological
evidence for carpet production. Moreover, most of the so-called
Mongolian saddle bags are now being more accurately attributed
to Ningxia. They, together with pieces of monasteries, were
exported to Mongolia in great numbers as indicated by the
numerous Ningxia column rugs with Mongolian inscriptions.
Morrocan
Years ago women had more time to create
colourful rugs and carpets, mixing different plants from the
Atlas Mountains to find a special colour. They tried to
create a piece of art better than their neighbour. Rugs and
carpets had many functions within the family. The rugs were
not only used as cover, but as an element of prestige
between the tribes, a means of communication to express
suffer and harshness of the countryside. While reading the
carpets made throughout Morocco, you can live the saga of
the old generations, their life style, values, and morals.
The geometric forms, and the choice of colour reflect the
mood of the woman-artist who put this combination together.
These enigmatic, geometric forms will be found in the old
jewelleries and old Kasbahs, which remains the clues of
unsolved civilization.
In the high mountains of the Middle Atlas live Berber tribes
whose flat weaving have a definite tribal authenticity,
particularly the tent bands for their black goat-hair tents,
the hanbels (blankets), and the herdsmen's cloaks, all of
which retain traditional patterns of intricately interlocked
diamonds.
Mud
Mud and its neighbouring Birjand are two
small adjacent towns south of Mashad in the province of
Khorassan. They have no buildings of interest, and their
chief product apart from carpets is barberry, used when
dyeing with cochineal. Several villages in the surrounding
area, in the Rud-e-Shahrud valley, also produce carpets.
The carpets of the area are characterized by consistency of design and quality.
They always have a ground of the Mahi or Herati design (the town of Herat lies
some 300 km north-east in Afghanistan) on a cream background, and sometimes
there will be a circular medallion and corners. The predominant colours are
ivory, blue, red and brown. The warps and wefts are cotton, the pile wool. The
borders are a version of the traditional Persian turtle border. All sizes are
produced. The area is exceptional for regularly weaving square carpets of 2 m x
2 m: only Mud, Kerman and Abadeh make this size frequently. Because of their
extreme regularity, Mud carpets are frequently copied in India. Other weaving
centres which come within the general category of Birjand are Khorassan,
Kashmir, Sazevar and Semnan.
Mushawani
Semi-nomadic and settled tribesmen of
Indo-European, probably Pashtun ancestry, who speak Farsi
(Persian) and mainly inhabit western Afghanistan. They were
noted especially for kilims and fairly long flat woven and
semi-pile dastarkans, but also now produce Balouch-style
pile rugs, featuring a wide range of designs in a palette
dominated by black or blue-black, dark red, deep brown, and
yellow and brown ochre, offset by paler reds and blues. They
are closely associated with an all-over scheme based on
concentrically expanding hooked-diamonds or zigzags.
Mushwanee rugs are generally of excellent quality and are
very high in demand as they give a tribal look in the house
and are ideal for the heavy foot traffic area, made with
wool on wool embossed village design and are 100% hand
knotted.
