Sofreh

typical afshar sofreh

 This topic is quite vast, and I should probably start by describing a bit about Persian culture, as this type of textiles is deeply rooted in the way of life in Iran, even in modern times. But I’m not going to do that—you can find plenty of information online, for example, here: sofreh / sofra - Encyclopaedia Iranica. or here: Nazmiyal collection. Any background I could provide would just be a repetition of what's already been written, and in a far better and more concise way than I could manage. That doesn’t change the fact that there is still very little information available on the subject. Even if you go to Iran, I suspect it would be difficult to find any of these textiles; you might see modern equivalents, but they would have little to do with or bear any resemblance to the designs and weaving techniques of the past.

 Another contributing factor is that there is very little antique textiles or rugs left in modern Iran, like at all.  At some point in history, Western interest in that culture consumed it—as it tends to do—especially in America. Some Iranians moved to the States and began importing cultural artefacts, making good money from it, which is one reason why the most valuable rugs and kilims are mostly sold through American auctions.

If you can get your hands on the books by Parviz Tanavoli—especially his small book The Sofreh of Kamo—I believe it would be a great resource on the topic.

 

 But so far, I’ve found it extremely difficult to find any of his books, even though Edinburgh, where I live and breathe, is supposed to be full of valuable volumes. It’s possible he covers this topic in his other books as well, perhaps in Undiscovered Minimalism: Gelims from Northern Iran, but that gem is insanely expensive and only accessible through auctions. Tanavoli is an important figure in Persian culture and textiles—an expert, and also a brilliant artist.  He’s connected to a certain school focused on letters -  reminiscent of French lettrism but with more spiritualized influence. This influence grew from Shi'ism and the traditional way of perceiving everything through letters, with a strong focus on symbols.

"Heech" by Parviz Tanavoli

 "Sofreh" means to spread, to share; as far as I understand, the word refers, points directly both to the cloth and to the act associated with it. It’s usually used as a floor covering for a special meal, or sometimes a more casual one—maybe with a friend, somewhere in the desert, directly on the ground, with the sound of camels roaring in the background. Some auction houses oddly describe it as a "flour sofreh," And although there is strong evidence in certain rite performed and influenced by Zoroastrian tradition - there must be another reason for that. I’ve read somewhere that it could also be used as a cloth for carrying bread, or even as a proofing cloth for making bread. (completely off topic - I know that if that’s true, it can be very similar to the cloths used by French bakers—they place baguettes, breads, or rolls on a specific cloth that’s never washed, only dried by the oven after each use, as the bacteria living on it contributes to the dough’s flavour.)

 So, these woven wool pieces had many functions, though it’s sometimes hard to determine exactly what they were used for, but they were certainly connected to an old rite where placing food on the cloth in specific positions played an important role.  The different functions of sofreh might explain their unusual weaving technique—not like regular kilims, which are woven more or less line by line, but in a more irregular fashion, a little bit like modern tapestries. This technique also allowed the cloth to be folded with ease and it prevented breaking both warp and weft. Other characteristics include the absence of slits, extremely tightly packed wefts, and a dense, strong cotton or wool warp, very rarely it happened that the pile knotted elements were incorporated into. The most fascinating aspect of sofreh is how improvised they were—woven quickly, sometimes by children, likely trained this way before moving on to more demanding weaving tasks. This might also explain why so many of them were made.

Now, let’s talk about the shared elements between different types of sofreh and discuss some examples.

 As with many other types of Persian textiles, sofreh starts with a field enclosed by a border, they were usually made in a square shape. The field is a space where something happens, it serves as a playground for testing different ideas. Sometimes, a dominant object—similar to a medallion—appears within another enclosure. This is usually a symbol that might be reminiscent of the eternal fire from Zoroastrianism (the traditional religion of Persia) and its "fire temples." The border, the symbol, and other elements move to the rhythm of zigzags, which is the simplest yet most powerful feature of sofreh and relatively easy to weave—I’ve tried it many times myself.

 What’s most interesting is when this rhythm breaks, going wildly off course, somewhere other textiles or designs rarely venture. It’s as if the cloth realizes its full expressive potential. Sofreh, a simple or naive type of cloth, allows this freedom—almost anything can happen. And contrary to what it might seem at first glance, this is entirely intentional. That’s what makes them so unique and why they’re so sought after. I’ve tried and will keep trying to recreate this effect, but so far, it’s been nearly impossible for a variety of reasons—mainly the wool I use, but that’s a topic for another time.

They were woven using simple looms, with ancient techniques and of course using hand-spun and plant-dyed yarn. Spinning was also performed on a very simple but extremely effective drop spindle. ->

typical Persian drop spindle

It's hard to say exactly when or where sofreh first appeared, but their peak—the most powerful examples—were created between the early 19th century and the mid-20th century. This is a rough estimate based on what I could find online. I believe the tradition of making sofreh flourished primarily among nomadic tribes and then gradually spread to villages and even cities.

In some cases, it's fairly easy to identify that a sofreh was woven by a specific tribe, but in other cases, I’ve found contradictory information. Some experts claim one thing, while certain rug sellers or native Persians say something entirely different. This kind of ambiguity seems common with artefacts created by nomads. It’s also a very niche topic overall.

They are typically categorized by the name of nomadic tribes who made them.

Afshar:

Kamo(Kamu):

Baloch

Qashqai: 

Varamin (it's not a tribe, it was and it is very important city - hence more refined design) :

And many others.

Below you can see examples from different tribes:

That's actually the afshar sofreh that I have on the wall in my studio.

This one features very dreamy embroidered elements.

This is made by Bakhtiari people, known for rather colorful and rich carpets.

The watercolour effect(called abrash) is partially due to the ageing of natural dye used. 

 modern variation? by Sue Weil, have a look at her instagram account

Of course there is so much more to it. It's quite impossible to tell everything about these wonderful textiles in a simple blog post. One of the things I wonder about is that maybe the above example by Sue Weil wasn't even created based of any of the sofreh. It's quite a natural flow of weaving after all. You will find similar approaches in many different cultures, like for instance on the other continent - Navajo.

If you have any thoughts about what you have just read share them in the comments.

Please note that the images of textiles in this blog-post were taken from various auction-houses and this instagram account: gallerysofreh. This was written for strictly educational purposes and I don't profit from any of it.