Dominant color in Persian carpets is red, which expresses joy, fortune, wealth. It may have different tinctures – from salmon pink, cerise, purple, carmine, red wine to rust-colored, copper or sanguine. Usually these colors are made of madder, henna, barberry, safflower, scale insects and blood.
Blue is a color of sky and luxury. It is often used as an adversative color in red carpets. Since long-ago this color is obtained by fermenting anil. Sometimes mazarine (dark blue) expresses sadness.
Yellow is obtained from various natural products, especially herbs. Crocus yellow is best-known, therefore most expensive. Woodwax and chamomile can mottle a carpet in various yellownesses. Buff (dark yellow) is obtained from pomegranate peel.
Orange (also called bronze yellow) is a blend of yellow and blue obtained from a buckthorn by adding some bluestone. This color is a symbol of piety and devotion, therefore not often dominant color in Persian carpets.
Green, similarly to the blend of yellow and blue, symbolizes paradise and hope. Since it is not proper to step on the holy color, it is rarely seen as a dominant color, but often used to shade in various motives of a carpet.
Brown color associates with mother land. It is obtained from natural wool, camel and goat fell or by dying threads with nutshells, onion-skin or oak bark.
Black color is very rare in Persian carpets, probably because it’s a color of mourning, sorrow and death, but it can also mean “second” life. With nutgall decoction and iron oxide colored wool is used for ornaments.
White color is also very rare. More often ivory or magnolia shadings are used. Pure white is obtained from natural wool or silk and symbolizes the purity.
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