Gabbeh

Gabbeh carpets, sometimes spelled 'Gabbe' are a traditional variety of Persian carpet.

A Gabbeh is a triple hand-knotted carpet/floor mat, crafted almost exclusively by women from Qashqai (sometimes spelled 'Ghashghai' or 'Qashaq'i') and some other tribes in southwestern Iran. The people of Qashqai are nomads.

'Gabbeh' carpet is much thicker and coarser than other Persian carpets; sometimes it is as much as one inch in depth. In fact, it is more of a variety of kilim than carpet. The word 'Gabbeh' comes from the [Persian language|Persian] meaning raw, natural, uncut. This is a rough and primitive carpet.

Gabbeh patterns are of a very basic kind with only a limited number of decorative, mostly rectangular objects resembling mainly animals. In Gabbeh usually bright colors, such as yellow and red, are used. Although large fields of solid color are used in Gabbeh designs, the color is variegated (the color varies throughout the rug).

Gabbehs are made of natural, handspun wool yarn and all the colors are created with natural plant dye. Due to its relative ease of production (less precise pattern, small number of (knots per square centimeter, etc.) a Gabbe is one of the less expensive varieties of Persian carpet.

These days weavers from India and Pakistan are copying Persian Gabbehs. For example, they are producing natural-dyed, hand-spun Gabbeh rugs in the Peshawar area in north-west Pakistan. However there is a major difference between an authentic Persian Gabbeh and an imitation or Indo Gabbeh carpet . Mostly this can be determined by the quality of the wool - the Persian variant is much softer. The Persian variant is also much more durable and the quality is definitely better.