Termeh & Kalamkari

Termeh is a type of Persian (Iranian) hand-woven cloth, produced primarily in the Isfahan province. Now the Yazd Termeh is the most beautiful and famous in the world. Yazd is the center of the design, producing and marketing of Termeh. Weaving Termeh requires high quality wool with long fibers. (pic 1)

Termeh is woven by an expert with the assistance of a worker called a Goushvareh-kesh. Weaving Termeh is a sensitive, careful, and time-consuming process; a professional weaver can produce only 25 to 30 centimeters in a day. The background colors used in Termeh are jujube red, light red, green, orange, blue and black. (pic 2)

Termeh has been admired throughout history; Greek historians commented on the beauty of Persian weavings in the Achaemenian (532 B.C.), Ashkani (222 B.C.) and Sassanid (226–641 A.D.) periods. During the Safavid period (1502–1736 A.D.), Termeh weaving techniques were significantly refined. Nowadays, due to the difficulties of producing Termeh and the advent of mechanized weaving, few factories remain in Iran that produce traditionally woven Termeh.

Kalamkari is the art of painting and hand printing on fabric by using natural colors. (pic 3)
At the beginning of this art, since the artists used a pen to paint on cotton and possibly silk, they called it Kalamkari (pen working), but later due to the need for high speed in the production of Kalamkari fabrics, the use of wooden molds and hand printing to put the designs on Fabric became commonplace.(pic 4-5)

The antiquity of this art is not entirely clear, but some research suggests that it probably began in the time of the Ghaznavids (10th and 11th centuries). However, this art was perfected during the reign of Shah Abbas (17th century) due to the interest of the courtiers and the attention of the people of the Safavid capital (Isfahan) to this art.
Since then, Men’s and women’s clothing, table cloth, bags, etc. are made of Kalamkari fabrics, and various types of Kalamkari fabrics prevalent in the market, the most famous being the “Golden Kalamkari”. (pic 6)

Nowadays, Isfahan is still the main center of production of Kalamkari fabric, and it is easy to say that more than 70% of the Kalamkari fabrics available in Iran and the world market is produced in this city.
Although this art is also common in India, since Kalamkari is a Persian word, we can definitely say that this art has gone from Persia (Iran) to India and it is a Persian (Iranian) art.