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Ziegler's Sultanabad Carpet Enterprise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Annette Ittig
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Today, the term “Ziegler carpet” is synonymous in the trade with a type of late nineteenth century Persian, made-for-export weaving categorized as decorative (figs. 1 - 2). The Ziegler enterprise in Sultanabad (now Arak) was the earliest known effort to organize carpet manufacture in Iran with foreign capital. This Manchester-based firm operated initially as a commission house, representing European manufacturers in the export and sales of printed cottons in the Near and Middle East; they subsequently developed extensive commercial interests in Iran, including investments in opium and other cash crops. Shortly after their first agency was established in Iran in 1867, Ziegler's expanded into the manufacture and trade of Persian carpets; and the company played a significant role the tremendous increase in carpet exports from that country during the late nineteenth century — the so-called Persian carpet “boom”.

Type
Post-Safavid Carpets and Textiles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 25 , Issue 1-2: The Carpets and Textiles of Iran: New Perspectives in Research , 1992 , pp. 103 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1992

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Footnotes

*

This article is based upon research initially undertaken for my D.Phil, thesis, and I would like to express my appreciation to all those individuals and institutions who assisted me in it I am especially indebted to my supervisors, Drs. James W. Allan and May H.Beattie, for their painstaking attention, guidance and kindness. I am as well deeply indebted to the owners of the Alpiger estate for granting me permission to examine and photograph material in their collection. I would also like to thank the World of Islam Festival Trust and the International Federation of University Women for their financial support, without which my research would not have been possible; and the Oriental Rug Retailers of America, for a grant towards publication preparation. Acknowledgement for advice and assistance is also due to Dr. Fakhr al-Din Azimi; Dr. Vanessa Martin; Mr. George O'Barmon; Dr. Rudolph Schnyder and Ms. Sarah B. Sherrill. I am also obliged to Prof. Ehsan Yarshater, Editor, Encyclopedia Iranica, for permission to reproduce figures IS and 16 herein.

References

1 For a summary of visible carpet exports from Iran for the years 1885-1914 compiled from available British consular and commercial reports, see Ittig, A., A Technical and Historical Study of the Qajar Carpet Industry (D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 1983), vol. IGoogle Scholar, Table I (hereafter, “Ittig, 1983“).

2 For example, ”…income from the sale of carpets supplanted that once derived from the export of silk.” C. Bier, “Commodity and Consumption”, Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, Textile Arts of Sqfavid and Qajar Iran, ed. Bier, Fontaine C. (Washington, D.C. 1987), p. 254Google Scholar. See also , P., “The Carpet Weaving Industry in the Arak Region: Permanence and Change in the Technical Organization of Production”, Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies, vol. III/1 (1987), p. 52.Google Scholar

3 For example, “When the Safavid dynasty began to crumble in the latter decades of the seventeenth century we assume that the carpet industry all but disintegrated”, Helfgott, L., “Production and Trade: The Persian Carpet Industry”, Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, ed. Bier, Edwards C. (Washington, D. C. 1987), p. 114Google Scholar; see also pp. 115-119. Note also , A. C., The Persian Carpet (London, 1953), p . 5.Google Scholar

4 ”… as in the case of so many other consumer items, once the demand from abroad took root, elite and middle-class Persians began to develop European tastes and the carpet eventually became a widespread local consumer item. This process probably did not occur until late in the nineteenth century.” Helfgott, op. cit., p. 117.

5 The Alpiger diary consists of forty-four folios; dated entries indicate that it was written during the period 1872-1878. The entries are in French and German, with a few notes in English; one folio has Hebrew letters.

6 John Scole, Manchester Foreign Merchants’ Guide, Manchester Central Library, ms. Ff.382.5.35, registers 1848-70, no. 1286, p. 132.

7 Hosking's Mercantile and Professional Directory for Manchester and Salford (Manchester, 1877), p . 139.Google Scholar

8 Between 1850 and 1860, Swiss exports of manufactured goods increased more than twofold: Imlah, A., Britain and Switzerland 1845- 1860 (London, 1966)Google Scholar, Table III. Factors which contributed to the growth of Swiss export industries, including the stabilization of domestic politics following the adoption of a new constitution in 1848 and the mechanization of textile production, are discussed ibid., op. cit., pp. 40; 101-108.

9 Imlah, pp. 106-107; 121 and Table VI. See also Jenny-Trumpy, A., “Handelund Industrie des Kantons Glarus”, Historischen Verein des Kantons Glarus Jahrbuch, Hft. 33-34 (1899-1900), pp. 349Google Scholar; 401-434.

10 Jenny-Trumpy, op. cit., pp. 494-95.

11 For discussion of types of export textiles, manufacturers and markets, see Jenny- Trumpy, pp. 401 ff.

12 Imlah, pp. 103; 119-126 and Table V.

13 See Imlah, pp. 111-115, for a discussion of this treaty.

14 R. Jackson, “The Origins of the Ardabil Carpet”, unpublished manuscript, n.d. I am indebted to Dr. May H. Beattie for this reference. For discussion of Jackson's correspondence in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see Weaver, M.E., “The Ardabil Puzzle”, Textile Museum Journal, vol. 23 (1984), pp. 48-49.Google Scholar

15 Brugsch, H. Reise der K. Preussischen Gesandschaft nach Persien, 1860-61 (Leipzig, 1863), vol. I, p. 176Google Scholar.

16 FO60.415, enclosure in Abbott to Marquis of Salisbury, June 12, 1878. At this time British trade with Persia via the Russian route through Trabizon to Tabriz was estimated at some £1,600,000: ibid.

17 The difficulties which might be encountered by Western firms when attempting to collect an outstanding amount from a local merchant have been documented in the British consular files, e.g., the “bankruptcy” of Hajji Kiazim (sic.): FO60.499, Wolff (draft) 19 August 1889; FO60.507, Ph. Ziegler & Co. to Wolff, 13 August 1889; and FO60.501, Kennedy to Marquis of Salisbury, no. 164, 5 September 1889.

18 For example, Alpiger Diary (hereafter “Diary“), fols. 4v; 7v; 8v; 9r; 16r; 16v and passim.

19 A & P, vol. 67 (1873), “Rasht -- Report by Consul Abbott (for 1871)”, p. 363.

20 Waste silk: Annual Series no. 69, “Report for the Year 1885 on the Trade of Tabreez (by Consul General William George Abbott)”, p. 3.

21 FO60.401, no. 13, Churchill to Earl of Derby, July 26, 1877

22 Gilbar, G., “Persian Agriculture in the Late Qajar Period, 1860-1906”, Asian and African Studies, vol. XII/3 (1978), pp. 328 - 29.Google Scholar

23 FO60.21, Willcock to Castlereagh, 30 October 1820; FO60.75, McNeill to Blackhouse, 29 October 1840; Burgess, C. and E., Letters from Persia, ed. Schwartz, B. (New York, 1942), p. 85Google Scholar; A & P, vol. 61 (1864), “Report by Consul General Abbott on the Trade of Tabreez for the Year 1862-62”, p. 201.

24 Ittig, 1983, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 256-7; eadem, “The Kirmani Boom. A Study in Carpet Entrepreneurship”, Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies, vol. 11 (1985), pp. 116-117 (hereafter “Ittig, 1985“).

25 Ittig, A., “Carpets XI. Qajar Period”, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. IV, fasc. 8 (1990), p. 879Google Scholar (hereafter “Ittig, 1990“). An analysis of the factors underlying the development of mass consumerism in the West, including (i) the growth of the population and resultant increase in housing construction; (ii) the general rise in working and middle class incomes which allowed (iii) a greater consumption of household goods, is beyond the scope of this paper. These trends are considered in detail in Fraser, W. H., The Coming of the Mass Market, 1850-1914 (Hamden, 1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, passim.

26 Owen, R., The Middle East in the World Economy (London, 1981)Google Scholar, passim, examines the Western economic penetration of the region as a whole; for the specific case of Iran, see The Economic History of Iran, 1800- 1914, ed. Issawi, C. (Chicago, 1971) and Cities and Trade. Consul Abbott on the Economy and Society of Iran, ed. Amanat, A. (London, 1983)Google Scholar and the bibliographies therein.

27 Ittig, 1983, vol. I, pp. 68-69, 72; Bierman, I., “Oriental Rugs of the Pacific Northwest 1850-1930”, The Warp and Weft of Islam, ed. Bachrach, J. and Bierman, I. (Seattle, 1978), p. 53Google Scholar; Quataert, D., “Machine Breaking and the Changing Carpet Industry of Western Anatolia, 1860-1908”, Journal of Social History, vol. XIX (1985-86), p. 474.Google Scholar

28 The designer, poet and reformer William Morris was instrumental in this movement; for details of the various individual English craft associations collectively so labelled, see Harvey, C. and Press, J., William Morris. Design and Enterprise in Victorian Britain (Manchester and New York, 1991), pp. 185- 188.Google Scholar Morris was himself a collector of Oriental carpets; the influence of traditional Persian carpet motifs and designs can be seen in the carpets produced for his firm, Morris and Company, from the late 1870's. Undoubtedly, the most famous Oriental carpet with which Morris is associated is the Ardebil carpet in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

29 For example, in 1876, W.J. Sloane purchased a collection of Oriental carpets which had been displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for subsequent sale through his New York store; it was claimed that this ”…marked the first time a retail house had entered the Oriental rug business…“: Sloane, W.J. & Company, The Story of Sloane's (New York, 1950), pp. 17-18.Google Scholar See also Sloane, W.J. & Company, Interior Decoration (New York, 1900)Google Scholar, n.p., for an illustration of the firm's “Comer of India” room, in which a variety of Oriental carpets are displayed. For references to other American retailers of Oriental and Oriental-inspired carpets and textiles, see Grier, Miller K.C. Culture and Comfort (Rochester, 1988), p. 191Google Scholar. During this period, European retailers such as Liberty's and the Bon Marche also established Oriental rug departments: , M. B., The Bon Marche. Bourgeois Culture and theDepartment Store, 1869-1920 (Princeton, 1981) p. 50.Google Scholar

30 ”…Eastern art is valuable to us: it rebukes at every turn our scientific love of precision and symmetry, shows us the charm of irregularity, and teaches us how to make two sides of a thing alike while keeping them quite different.. There needs today to be a protest made by some one against the mechanical character of our decoration…” Cook, C. The House Beautiful (New York, 1895), p. 281Google Scholar.

31 A generic label for any object of Near or Middle Eastern origin or inspiration.

32 These “rooms within rooms” might consist of only a few cushions and a rug, but they constituted a“withdrawing area” usually separated from the living room by a screen: Lynes, R. The Tastemakers (New York, 1954), p. 171Google Scholar. The ‘Turkish corner” was further popularized by women's magazines such as the Ladies Home Journal which published both illustrations and instructions regarding their construction: Anon., , “Some Successful Country Homes”, Ladies Home Journal, vol. xvii, no. 11 (1899), p . 83.Google Scholar

33 Ittig, 1985, p. 118; Hobsbawm, E. J. Industry and Empire (Suffolk, 1970), p. 160Google Scholar. See also note 25, above.

34 For a summary of the causes of the depreciation of silver worldwide, see Jones, G., Banking and Empire in Iran (London, Cambridge, New York and Melbourne, 1986), vol. I, pp. 6; 66-67.Google Scholar

35 For example, Hajji Kiazim (sic.) (see above, n. 15) was a merchant who regularly purchased manufactured goods from Ziegler’ s in Tabriz and forwarded them to his partners, Hajji Mullah Hasan and Hajji Muhammad Husain in Tehran: FO60.499, Wolff (draft) 19 August 1888; FO60.507, Ph. Ziegler & Co. to Wolff, 13 August 1889.

36 In addition to their links with Western suppliers and markets, many foreign as well as Persian merchants traded directly from Iran to India and China, e.g., Ziegler's imported cotton piece goods from England and Switzerland to Iran whence they exported opium to China and carpets to Europe. Other British firms engaged in this long distance trade are mentioned in Bostock, F. and Jones, G., “British Business in Iran, 1860s - 1970s”, British Business in Asia since 1860, ed. Davenport- Hines, R.P.T. and Jones, G. (Cambridge, New York and Melbourne, 1989), pp. 39-40.Google Scholar

37 Undoubtedly the most famous antique pieces handled by Ziegler's were the so-called “Ardabil” carpets: see above, notes 14 and 28.

38 E.g., Kerbelai (sic.) Isma'il Qalibafi specialized in Qa'in carpets: Diary, fols. 13r, 13v; 15r; 19r; 34r and 40r; Kerbelai (sic.) ‘Abbas ‘Ali in Mashhad carpets: Diary, fol. 40r; and Hajji Muhammad in Turcoman carpets: Diary, fols. 8r and 42r.

39 A customary measure of length which was also known as the gaz or zar’ and which was divided into 16 girih or “knots”. These units of measure varied in length from place to place, from 40” (Tehran) to 40.95” (Mashhad) and 44.5” (Tabriz). In his diary, Alpiger variously described the arshin, which he usually abbreviated as “arsch.”, as 40“; ;or 113 cm.; or 3 English feet: Diary, fols. lv; 4v.

40 The muqatta', or “muk.” as Alpiger usually abbreviated it, is a measure of knot density used by manufacturers; it is calculated by the number of knots per longitudinal girih.

41 E.g., folios 3r, 27v.

42 Diary, fols. 3r and 6v. Alpiger's notes on carpet prices are supported by other contemporary observers. Abbott, for example, noted that on theTabriz market in 1878-79, Khurasan carpets ranged from £l.5s to £1.10s. per square yard; Farahan rugs were approximately 30% less expensive, at 18s. - £1.2s. per square yard: A & P, vol. 73 (1880), Abbott, W. G., “The Trade and Commerce of Azerbaijan for 1878-79”, p. 114.Google Scholar

43 Diary fol. 18r.

44 For example, Diary fols. 12r; 13r; 40r.

45 Diary fol. 10r.

46 Diary fol. 13r.

47 See Ittig, 1990, op. cit., passim, for references to nineteenth century production, both specially commissioned as well as commercial, in Kirman, Garrus, Farahan, Tabriz and other centres.

48 A & P, vol. 1376 for 1894, J.R. Preece, “Report for the Years 1892-93 and 1893-94 on the Trade, etc. of the Consular District of Ispahan” (hereafter “Preece“), p. 57.

49 Whigham, H. J., “Persia's Resources. The Carpet Industry”, The Morning Post, 21 July 1902, p. 5.Google Scholar

50 FO371.2979, file 48166, no. 69, Marling to Lord Robert Cecil, May 15, 1917, enc. from Henderson, Ziegler & Co. (Tehran), to Foreign Claims Committee, Foreign Office.

51 Aubin, E. La Perse d’ aujourd'hui (Paris, 1908), p. 315Google Scholar. According to , I. Dighān, Tārīkhi Arāk (Tehran, 1330/1951), vol. II, p. 164Google Scholar, n. 1, this building was known locally as the qunsūlkhānah presumably because Ziegler's representative acted as the British Vice-Consul for Sultanabad during the early twentieth century.

52 Dihgan, op. cit., vol. II, pp. 165ff.

53 FO60.522, no. 36, Churchill to Kennedy, 27 January 1891; Whigham, op. cit., p. 5; Preece, op. cit., p. 57; Aubin, op. cit., p. 315.

54 The writer was advised by the owners of the Alpiger estate that the notes written by Alice Alpiger onto the cartoons date only from the 1950s, when Alice started to compile an album from this material.

55 Aubin, op. cit., p. 315; Preece, p. 59; Dihgān, vol. II, pp. 165 ff.

56 This type o f loom is illustrated in Churchill, S.T.A., “The Present State o f the Carpet Industry in Persia,” Oriental Carpets, ed. Purdon-Clarke, C. (Vienna, 1892), vol. I, pp. 2 and 3Google Scholar. The carpets in both illustrations have hirān field patterns o f the type traditionally associated with Farahan production.

57 Preece, p. 59.

58 Whigham, p. 5.

59 Ibid.

60 Preece, p. 59.

61 Whigham, p. 5.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid.

64 Preece, p. 62.

65 Dihgān,vol. II, p. 166.

66 Preece, p. 58.

67 Ibid.

68 A.S. 5254, Grahame, T.G., “Report for the Year Ending March 20, 1913 on the Trade of the Consular District of Ispahan”, p. 71.Google Scholar

69 Whigham, p. 5.

70 Ibid.

71 Ibid., Dihgān incorrectly refers to this firm as “German“: vol. II, pp. 165ff.

72 Schuster & Co., Lagerverzeichnis für Oriental Teppiche, Buch II, May, 1916, nos. 277- 294.

73 FO60.528, no. 1410, Maj.Gen.T.E. Gordon, “Journey from Tehran to the Karun and Mohammrrah, via Kum, Sultanabad, Burujird, Khoremabad, Dizful and Ahwaz” (hereafter “Gordon“), p. 2; FO60.522, Churchill to Kennedy, 17 February 1891.

74 Whigham, p. 5.

75 Gordon, op. cit., p. 2

76 Whiting, M., “Progress in the Analysis of Dyes in Old Oriental Carpets”, Hali, vol. II/I (1979), p . 28.Google Scholar

77 Curzon, G.N. Persia and the Persian Question (London, 1892), vol. I, p. 369Google Scholar and vol. II, p. 524; Preece, p. 58; Feuvrier, p. 374.

78 Preece, p. 57; Whigham, p. 5. However, by 1920, Ziegler's was also using inorganic dyestuffs: FO371.4910, file 177, c. 4514: Carlill, Board of Trade to Foreign Office, August 21, 1920.

79 See also Diary, fol. 18r.

80 Meyer, F. K., “Franz Theodor Strauss - ein Leben im Dienste der Wissenschaft”, Wissenshafiliche Zeitschrift der Friedrich Schiller Universität (Jena, 1972), p.481.Google Scholar Strauss succeeded Alpiger as manager of the Sultanabad agency upon the latter's return to Europe in 1896.

81 Wills, p. 150.

82 See also Diary fols. 31v and 32r, for an order of 133 carpets for Maple & Company, dated April 17, 1878, in which 67 pieces are designated as hirātī-patterned.

83 Abbott, “Azerbaijan, 1878-79”, op. cit., p. 114.

84 A & P, vol. 69 (1882), Dickson, W. J., “The Trade of Persia”, p. 499Google Scholar; see also Dihgān, vol. II, pp. 166-68.

85 Whigham, p. 5

86 A.S. No. 113 (1887): “Report on the Trade and Industries of Persia by Mr. Nicolson”, p.6; Dickson, “Persia”, op.cit., p . 499; FO416.2, Durand to Salisbury, enc. 1 in no. 86, “Report on a Tour in Western Persia”, January 18, 1900, p . 79.

87 Whigham, p. 5

88 ”…there really was not much that could be said in favour of the oftentimes confused and incoherent designs of the earlier Turkey carpets, and so the sending out to Oushak of fine patterns from the farther East (many of Persian origin) to serve as models of design, as well as of colouring, proved a success. Fig. 1, representing an Oushak rug of recent manufacture, and of the finest texture of any Turkey carpet, illustrates the several improvements that have just been described. The design is antique Persian; the colours are tender and varied. The modern Ghiordes rug, shown in Fig. 2, is of the same high quality, and illustrates the same points.” Church, A.H., “Cardinal and Harford's Carpets”, The Portfolio, vol. XXIII (1892), p. 75Google Scholar and figs. 1 and 2; Stoeckel, J. M., “Modern Turkey Carpets. A Monograph”, Oriental Carpets, ed. Purdon Clarke, C. (London, 1892), Vol. I, p. 4Google Scholar (illus.).

89 E.g., Christie's (London), “Tapestries, Textiles and Carpets”, sale catalogue for Elveden Hall, 22 May 1984, vol.III, lot nos. 1965; 1966; 1969; 1970; 1973; 1974 and 1984-89, all of which were catalogued as “Ushak”, but some of which were subsequently relabelled “Ziegler“: Willis, T., “Elveden Hall”, Hali, vol. 6, no. 4 (1984) pp. 24-26Google Scholar (illus.); Pinner, R., “The Guiness Rugs at Elveden Hall”, Hali, vol. 6, no. 4 (1984), pp. 447; 448Google Scholar; 452

90 See, for example, A.S. 4184, Wratislaw, , “Report for the Years 1906-08 o n the Trade of Azerbaijan”, p. 8Google Scholar; A.S. 4796, Oliphant, “Report for the Year 1909-10 o n the Trade o f Persia”, p. 5 and Armex R; A.S. 4955, Garnett, “Report for the Year 1910-11 o n the Trade o f Persia”, p. 6 and Annex R; A.S. 5261, Garnettt, “Report for the Year 1912-13 on the trade o f Persia”, p. 5 and Annex S. These figures represent visible carpet exports only.

91 FO371.2979, enc. to no. 69, Henderson, Ziegler's, to Foreign Claims Commission, Foreign Office, May 10, 1917, and its enclosures.

92 FO368.1959, file 9579, no. 6/107, J.H.H. Bill to Sir Hamilton Grant, March 3, 1918 and no. 858, Bray to Bill, March 31, 1918.

93 FO371.2428, file, 7603, no. 87021/15, Foreign Office to Marling, July 15, 1915.

94 FO371.2428, file. 7603, n o . 109232, Ziegler's to Foreign Office, July 28, 1915.

95 For example, FO371.2428, file 7603, n o . 101337, 24 July 1915, Fountain, Board of Trade to Foreign Office, in which the writer suggested that Ziegler might have German sympathies. This is undoubtedly the reason behind the introduction in 1917 of letterhead for the company which described its senior partner as a “British subject, (of) Swiss origin”.

96 FO371.14545, files E2396 and E3649, Ziegler's (Manchester) to Foreign Office, July 9, 1930.

97 For example, FO248.775, Ziegler's to Hardinge, 1 January 1902, notes both the robbery of a carpet caravan near Mohammadabad and that of another caravan from Tabriz.

98 See, for example, FO248.775, Ziegler's, Tehran, to Hardinge, 13 January 1902; and ibid., Imperial Bank of Persia to Hardinge, 4 April 1902.

99 FO371.963, file 29924, no. 1, Ziegler's (Manchester) to Grey, 16 August 1910.

100 F0317.2436, file 144835, Ziegler's (Manchester) to Foreign Office, 10 April 1915.

101 See above, n. 15.

102 The hesitation of the Foreign Office to support British commercial interests in Iran at this time was directly linked to that country's unstable domestic situation: Davenport-Hines, R.P.T. and Jones, G., “British Business in Asia since 1860”, British Business in Asia since I860, ed. Davenport-Hines, R.P.T. and Jones, G. (Cambridge, New York and Melbourne 1989), p. 23Google Scholar.

103 For other factors affecting the volume of carpet exports to the West at this time, see Floor, W., “Carpets xii. Pahlavi Period”, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. IV, fasc. 8, p. 889.Google Scholar

104 FO369.2280 K10289/7639/234, Hoareto Gye, 6 August 1932.

105 FO371.18309, file 17N7215.1738, Kavanagh to Foreign Office, 20 November 1934.

106 FO371.16942, E5108/51/34, Lascelles, 9 September 1922

107 FO371.16942, file E6564/51/34, Ziegler's (Manchester) to Foreign Office, August 30, 1933.

108 Helfgott, p. 117.

109 See, for example, Ittig, 1985, p. 121

page 127 note 1 Anilines were the earliest synthetic dyes. The first of these substances, mauve, was introduced by Perkin in 185 6. Anilines were applied directly to yams or fabrics, thus eliminating the need for a mordant or fixative required when using organic colourings; as well, they produced brilliant colour intensities. However, anilines proved to be unstable to light, with fading occuring over a period of time.

page 127 note 2 Here, eintarif (sic.) for yek.taraW)

page 127 note 3 Probably a reference to a large cabbage rose pattern known colloquially as guH farangl, which was derived from floral motifs on European goods.

page 127 note 4 These variations in the intensity of the dye are known colloquially as abrash.

page 127 note 5 A London firm established in 1792 which was concerned with the import, wholesale and retail of carpets, furnishings and antiques. By the early twentieth century, if not earlier, Cardinal and Harford were involved in the manufacture of carpets in Turkey, Iran andlndia: BT31/27623/186298, “Cardinal and Harford (London and Persia) Ltd., Memorandum of Association”, December 12, 1922. The Persian factories of the German Persische-Teppich-Gesellschaft AG were transferred to Cardinal and Harford in 1922: op. cit., “Prospectus”, December 15, 1922. The company was wound up on March 11,1931.

page 127 note 6 Here, mutarifis for mitfarrafffls (?) It is unclear whether this refers to metalwork or to carpets.

page 127 note 7 A village in the Sultanabad (Arak) area noted for its carpetweaving prior to Ziegler's establishment there: Bragsch, H. Reise des K. Preussischen Gesandtschaft nach Persien 1860 & 1861 (Leipzig, 1863), vol. H, p. 13Google Scholar and illus.; Polak, J. Persien, das Land und seiner Bewohner (Lepzig, 1865), vol. II, p. 168Google Scholar; Blau, O. CommerzielleZustandPersiens (Berlin, 1858), p. 104Google Scholar; Ferrier, J.P. Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia.Afghanistan, Turkistan and Beloochistan (London, 1857), p. 26nGoogle Scholar

page 127 note 8 The hirātī (lit, “of Hirat“) pattern consists of repeats of rosettes set within diamonds which have palmettes at their comers; around each such motif are four sickle leaves: A. Ittig, “Carpets IV. Knotted Pile Carpets. Designs, Motifs and Patterns” Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. IV, fasc. 8, fig. 73. Variants of the hirātī pattern are woven throughout Iran; one permutation is considered characteristic of Farahan manufacture: Edwards, A.C., The Persian Carpet (London, 1953), pls. 17-19.Google Scholar The name of this pattern derives from the city to which its origins have been traditionally ascribed.

page 127 note 9 Another village in the Sultanabad region which was renowned for its production of carpets, most particularly those with off-set butah patterns: Maple & Company, Concerning Carpets and Art Decoration of Floors (London, 1884), pp. 41-42.Google Scholar

page 127 note 10 Probably a reference to geometric patterns; scrolling, curvilinear vegetal and floral patterns were preferred: see above, n. 6.

page 127 note 11 Muntagal bikunīd

page 128 note 12 The superior quality of Yazd felts, as indicated here by their higher prices, was also commented upon by other nineteenth century writers, e.g., F060.165, “Notes on the Trade, Manufactures and Productions of Various Cities and Countries of Persia Visited by Mr. Consul (K.E.) Abbott, in 1849-50”, p. 69.

page 128 note 13 The reference to a price in dollars suggests this item was in demand for the American market. At least one major New York retailer, WJ. Sloane, was supplied with carpets by Ziegler's: see fol. 22v.

page 128 note 14 Prices here are in krans and shāhīs.

page 128 note 15 It is not certain whether the Boucicaut noted here is related to the founder of the Bon Marche, a Paris dry goods store which, in the 1850s, was developed into one of the world's first department stores.

page 128 note 16 The three price ranges for Khurasan carpets given here relate to different qualities: see also fols. 2r and 27v, note 29 in Appendix Ic, below.

page 128 note 17 Turcoman weavings figure prominently in Alpiger's entries for Mashhad. A primary factor in the quantity of tribal rugs on the market at this time was undoubtedly the famine of 1869-72, at which time household items were sold or bartered for food: Smith, E., “The Perso-Afghan Mission, 1871-72”, Goldsmid, F.J. et. al., Eastern Persia. An Account of the Journeys ofthePersianBoundary Commission 1870-72 (London, 1876), vol. I, p. 365.Google Scholar

page 128 note 18 Guls are geometric, often octagonal, motifs commonly seen in Turcoman weavings; particular guls are associated with specific Turcoman subgroups: Mackie, LAV., “Glossary”, Turkmen Tribal Carpets and Traditions, ed. Mackie, L.W. and Thompson, J. (Washington, D.C. 1980), p. 234Google Scholar (illus.).

page 128 note 19 A type of saddle bag with two pockets, usually about 4’ X 2'. For representative examples, see Tanavoli, P. Shahsevan (New York, 1985), pp. 254-361Google Scholar and pis. 134-38; 142; 147; 149; 157-9; 161-2; 169-71; 176-8; 188-90; 206-9; 229-35; 236-47.

page 128 note 20 A generic term for a flatwoven carpet; it is often, but not exclusively, used to refer to a rug with a weft-faced plain weave, or tapestry, structure: Sherrill, S., “Carpets V. Flatwoven Carpets. Techniques and Structures”, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. IV. fasc, 8 (1990)Google Scholar, fig. 76.

page 128 note 21 This probably refers to a technique known as supplementary, or extra, weft-wrapping in which the warps of a fabric are progressively wrapped, or encircled, by wefts. Supplementary weft-wrapping, unlike embroidery in which yams are sewn with a needle onto a woven or felt fabric, is undertaken during the weaving process, while the ground fabric is still on the loom. Weft-wrapping may serve both decorative as well as functional requirements, as the area(s) of a fabric so treated are actually reinformed by the extra weft threads. This technique is known also as “sumaif, a term of obscure origin: Sherrill, op.ch., pp. 854-55 and figs. 90-3.

page 130 note 22 That is, a “previously owned” carpet, rather than a new one. The many diary references to “used” carpets provide evidence that, in addition to contemporary rugs, there was also a Western market for “antique” carpets at this time. According to Reitlinger's study, both the number and the prices of antique Oriental rugs at auction increased significantly between 1878 and 1885; Reitlinger, G., The Economics of Taste (London, 1963), vol. II, pp. 520-1.Google Scholar Undoubtedly the most famous antique carpets to be handled by Ziegler's were the so-called “Ardabils” one of which is no w in the y ictoria and Albert, the other in the Los Angeles County Museum.

page 131 note 23 William Dickson became the British Legation's translator and interpreter in 1852; he held this appointment for over thirty years: Wright, D. The English Amongst the Persians (London, 1977), p. 124nGoogle Scholar. His signature appears on the birth certificate issued for Alpiger's son Charles Emil (b. December 21,1876: see fol. 44r) on February 10,1877 in Mashhad, in authorization of the use of the Legation's seal on this document by Mirza Abbas Khan, the Afghan-bom agent (Baker, V. Clouds in the East (London, 1876), p. 174Google Scholar)of the British Legation there. As Ziegler's agent, Alpiger was resident in Mashhad from late 1875 (probably from October: see F060373, Thomson to Derby, September 30, 1875) until March 1877. Prior to that time, dated diary entries document several commercial journeys by Alpiger in and around Mashhad between 1872 and 1875.

page 131 note 24 A field design consisting of an overall repeat of flowerheads. In the trade, this type of design is associated with Ziegler's production: Nemati, P. Rugs as Investment (New York, 1980), p. 99Google Scholar and pi. 74. That Ziegler's traded large quantities olgul-i hinna Irugs is confirmed by Alpiger's April 17,1878recordof an order for the London retailer Maple & Co., which includes 44 rugs with this pattern: fols. 31v-32r.

page 133 note 25 This entry, and others in the diary (e.g., fols. 2r, 3r and 5v), support the statements by other contemporary observers that in both Sultanabad and Khurasan commercial weaving was sufficiently diversified so that more than one quality, or line, was produced to suit a range of customers: see, for example, Blau, op. cit., p. 106. It is notable that the better quality Farahan and Saraband carpets from the Sultanabad area were significantly less expensive than comparable Khurasan rugs. This was undoubtedly a significant factor in Ziegler's decision to organize export production in Sultanabad rather than in Mashhad, where Alpiger had initially purchased and contracted carpets: see fol. 13r.

page 133 note 26 According to the terms of the Anglo-Persian Commercial Treaty of 1841, imported British goods were officially subject to a 5% general ad valorem duty upon arrival at Tabriz. However, this entry confirms Abbott's report of “arrangements” between merchants and customs officials at Tabriz whereby duty was charged per mule load: F060.253, Abbott to Alison, September 10,1860.

page 133 note 27 Road tax

page 133 note 28 The difference between metal and paper currency

page 133 note 29 This was the rate quoted in the British consular reports for late 1876 in both Rasht and Tabriz: C. Issawi (ed.). The Economic History of Iran 1800-1914 (Chicago, 1971), p. 344. No comparable information is available for Mashhad at this time, as a consulate was not established there until 1889. Up-to-date information about the rates of exchange was a necessity for Ziegler's import and export activities, particularly with debasementofthefo- an by successive Qajar governments and a decline in the gold price of silver from the mid-1870s onwards: G. Jones, Banking and Empire in Iran (London, Cambridge, New York and Melbourne, 1986), vol. I, pp. 6; 67.

page 133 note 30 Small carpets

page 133 note 31 See note 25, above.

page 133 note 32 See fol. 25r: ‘True distances Shahrud to Mesched 471.7 kilometres, 294 3/4 miles Engl. This is passing through villages and towns.“

page 133 note 33 Until the late 1870s, Ziegler's imported goods into Iran through the Caucasus viaTrebizond: F060.415, encl. in Abbott to Marquis of Salisbury, June 12,1878. Tabriz was the firm's distributing point for the interior of the country. Items designated for sale in Mashhad were sent via Tehran. As Ziegler's agent in Mashhad, Alpiger was familiar with this route: note the listing of the various stages between these two points is given as 147 farsaks; on fol. 25r it is given both as 530 miles and as 848 kilometers.

page 135 note 34 jānvār?

page 135 note 35 Tiryāk, “opium“: the resin exuded when the surfaceof theseedpodof the poppy is cut, and which is subsequently collected, dried and prepared as cakes, sticks orpills; lūlah, “pipe“; hence, tiryūklūlah, a small pipe-shaped measure of opium.

page 135 note 36 A reference to the widespread system of making cash advances on future cash crops, such as cotton, tobacco and, as noted here, opium.

page 135 note 37 Shīrah, lit. “syrup“; the concentrated residue left in the pipe bo wl after opium smoking. It is accumulated until it is sufficient for use on its own. Tiryāk shīrah has, therefore, a much more potent effect on its user than does Tiryāk lūlah.

page 135 note 38 nātābah

page 135 note 39 tābīdah

page 135 note 40 The meaning of these three terms, other than as references to qualities of indigo, is presently unclear.

page 135 note 41 When money is required in Persia, it is usual to import either Russian imperials or Turkish lira. In calculating the rate of exchange … the standard is the Russian pol imperial, which is supposed to be worth 21 krans 14 1/2 shahirs (sic.) currency.“: A & P XXX, ‘Tabreez. Report by Consul-General Jones (for 1872)”, p. 371.