Qom (Ghom) workshops and masters: what is attested and what is not

Erami, Jamshidi, Mirmehdi, Amiri and others: which Qom workshops are attested by catalogues, oral history or honours, and what only the trade says.

[View of Koum] (Luigi Pesce, albumen silver print)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977.683.49 · CC0

By Last reviewed:

Updated November 2026 · sources linked

At a glance

  • The richest tradition exists for the Erami family (Persian ارمی): three generations from 1913 to the present, according to the family.
  • In 2022 Mohammad Jamshidi gave an account of himself in an oral-history session: year of birth, density, designer and export markets.
  • In 2022 Iran’s National Carpet Center honoured, among others, Reza Erami as well as Aghagol and Morteza Mirmehdi from Qom (Ghom).
  • Several further names are attested only as signatures in catalogues of the Dorotheum, Chiswick or Nagel, some only by dealers.
  • There is no scholarly history of Qom’s workshops. This register classifies each name according to the type of evidence for it.

Anyone who owns or looks at a signed Qom carpet (Ghom, Qum, Kum; Persian قم) wants to know who stands behind the name. No scholarly account of the city’s workshops could be found for this article. What does exist are auction catalogues, a museum record, Persian oral history, company portraits and many dealers’ texts. This register keeps them strictly apart. For each name it states what is attested and by what.

How to read this register

The status has five levels:

  • attested means: a museum, an auction house or a reference work confirms the information. In the case of auction houses, usually only the signature is attested, not the history of the workshop.
  • state honour means: the name appears on a published honours list. The list does not name a workshop.
  • oral history means: the person has given a public account of themselves, or a contemporary witness reports. This is memory, not verified documents.
  • company or portal statement means: the information comes from a company portrait or a popular portal without references.
  • trade claim only means: a dealer states the information without a source.

A signature in a catalogue attests only that this name appears on this carpet. How signatures are composed is explained in the article Signed Qom (Ghom) carpets: reading the signature cartouche.

Examples in the trade: Qom silk rugs at BazarPort (our own shop)

Video from Hassan Farahani’s YouTube channel (Teppichbazar) Playing loads the video from YouTube (Google), which transfers data to Google.

Spellings

Persian names appear very differently in Latin script. These variants help when searching catalogues:

PersianVariantsNote
جمشیدیJamshidi, DjamshidiNagel and Chiswick spell it Jamshidi
میرمهدیMirmehdi, Mir MehdiHonours list 2022: میرمهدی
قمGhom, Qom, Qum, Kumplace name in many signatures

The Erami family

No other Qom workshop has so long a tradition on record. It comes from two Persian sources: the popular portal Beytoote and a company portrait on the carpet portal Carpetour. Neither gives references. The data below are therefore statements by the family and the portal, not verified facts.

GenerationNameInformationSource
1Haj Mahmoud Erami (حاج محمود ارمی)born 1292 SH (1913/14) in Kashan; came to Qom at the age of ten; learned warp setting (chelleh-davani); by twenty one of the best warp setters in Qom; spread weaving to villages around Qom; died 1365 (1986/87) aged 73carpetour.net, no. 1228; Beytoote
2Haj Hossein Erami (حسین ارمی)son; born 1325 (1946/47) in Qom; in his father’s workshop from the age of 15; all-silk carpets from about the age of 25; also had carpets knotted in Saveh, Hamadan, Zanjan, Tabriz and Bostanabad; according to the portrait one of the first in Qom with all-silk carpets of 24 and 40 m²; died aged 68carpetour.net, no. 1228
3Mohammad Eramison; born 1360 (1981/82); studied industrial engineering (mohandesi-ye sanaye); from 1383 (2004/05) sales in the Tehran bazaar; trade fairs in Kuwait, Germany, Iraq, England, the Emirates and Russiacarpetour.net, no. 1228
3Mehdi Eramison; born 1361 (1982/83); in the business from 1379 (2000/01); responsible for design and colouringcarpetour.net, no. 1228
3Mahmoud Eramison; named in a photograph in the portrait, without further informationcarpetour.net, no. 1228
–Reza Erami, Qomhonoured by the National Carpet Center, 8 May 2022; relationship not statedIran Carpet Company

Mohammad and Mehdi Erami run the brand “Farsh-e Abrisham-e Hossein Erami Qom” together (carpetour.net, no. 1171). In April 2023 Mohammad Erami spoke about the Qom weaving school at the Carpet Museum of Iran in Tehran. Among the brand’s achievements the portrait lists fine knotting of over 100 raj, participation in an exhibition at the Niavaran Palace in 1393 (2014/15), Expo 2020 in the Emirates (2022) and an Iranian-Italian carpet for the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 1401 (2022/23) (carpetour.net, no. 1228).

The state gift. The workshop became known through the carpet for Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in 2019. Wikipedia describes it as 205 × 205 cm, with more than four million knots, a rose design (gol-farang), a medallion (toranj) and corner pieces (lachak) (Wikipedia: Qom rug). Carpetour names the Iranian Chamber of Commerce as the giver, around 4 m², a lapis-blue ground and gold ornament (carpetour.net, no. 1171). The list of achievements in the portrait and Beytoote name President Rouhani as the person who presented it. Abe’s visit to Tehran in June 2019 is documented by press reports (Dawn).

The signature. Illustrations in the Carpetour portrait show cartouches reading “ایران قم ارمی” (Iran, Qom, Erami) and “قم – ارمی”. In July 2024 the firm publicly warned against carpets that other producers mark with its name. Buyers, it said, should ask for the firm’s certificate of origin (shenasnameh) and have it checked by the firm (carpetour.net, no. 1230). A signature “Erami” alone therefore does not prove origin in this workshop.

Jamshidi (Djamshidi)

Jamshidi is the name with the most evidence of different kinds. In October 2022 Mohammad Jamshidi gave an account of himself in the 442nd session of the Institute for Qom Studies (Bonyad-e Qom-pazhuhi) (Hawzah News):

  • Born 1326 (1947/48) in Qom; his father came from Kashan and died before he was born. He learned knotting from his mother and worked from the age of 14.
  • At that time, he said, everyone knotted wool; silk was not customary. He gradually changed over to silk.
  • His designs were drawn by a painter, Mirza Mohammad Kashi, who worked only for him. Today’s designs go back to these drawings.
  • Small formats went mainly to Japan, large ones to Germany. He also named the Emirates as an important market.

His son Alireza Jamshidi added figures. His father, he said, knotted at 75 raj; the sons knot at 100 to 110 raj. A carpet with 200 raj had been on the loom for ten years and was not for sale. Today 200 weavers work for the business, formerly up to 1,000, also in other provinces. In the same session the chairman of the provincial association, Sadeghi, called Jamshidi the “sultan of silk carpets”, above all in East Asia and Japan.

Auction houses also attest the name. Chiswick documents a signature “Jamshidi” (Chiswick, Lot 84). In 2019 Nagel called the “Meistermanufaktur Jamshidi” probably the best workshop in Qom. The catalogue describes two threads of different colours in a single knot and a medallion like a view into a dome (Nagel via veryimportantlot). No source says whether all carpets bearing this name come from the same workshop.

The register

Workshop / masterClaimSourceStatus
Nimatullah Jawshaqaniinscription on one of twelve silk carpets in the mausoleum of Shah Abbas II in Qom, dated 1082 AHV&A, T.438-1976attested
Erami familythree generations since 1913, see abovecarpetour.net; Beytootecompany and portal statement
Hossein Eramiworkshop of the state gift to Abe, 2019Wikipedia: Qom rug; carpetour.netattested (secondary source)
Reza Eramihonoured by the National Carpet Center, 2022Iran Carpet Companystate honour
Eramimaster with striking coloursLittle Persiatrade claim only
Mohammad Jamshidiborn 1947/48; 75 raj; sons 100–110 raj; designer Mirza Mohammad Kashi; export to Japan, Germany, the EmiratesHawzah Newsoral history (own statement)
Jamshidisignature “Jamshidi” in a cartouche, silk Qum approx. 147 × 98 cm, sold 24.03.2026Chiswick, Lot 84attested (signature)
Jamshidi“Meistermanufaktur Jamshidi”, according to the catalogue probably the best workshop in QomNagel (via veryimportantlot)attested (auction house’s assessment)
Rajabianwas already knotting good silk carpets around 1961Hawzah Newsoral history (named by Jamshidi)
Ous Gholamhossein Arsalani“one of the first” and “father of the Qom carpet”Hawzah Newsoral history (named by Mohammad Rezvani)
Aghagol and Morteza Mirmehdihonoured by the National Carpet Center, 2022, both “Qom”Iran Carpet Companystate honour
Amirisignature “Ghom Iran Amiri”, approx. 400 × 297 cm, sold 23.03.2016Dorotheumattested (signature)
Daneshpouesignature “Ghom Daneshpoue”, hunting scenes, approx. 395 × 290 cm, 21.10.2020Dorotheumattested (signature)
Sadegh Zadehsignature “Ghom Sadegh Zadeh” on two sides, approx. 300 × 207 cm, 2025Dorotheumattested (signature)
Abol Fashlisignature “Abol Fashli”, approx. 151 × 100 cm, 11.10.2022Dorotheumattested (signature)
Kazemi“Master weaver Kazemi”, signed silk Qum, circa 1970Farnham Antique Carpetstrade claim only
Mohammadi, Djeddimasters with elegant designs and medallions respectivelyLittle Persiatrade claim only
Habibian (family), Ahmad Seirafianwell-known weavers from the Qom areaLittle Persiatrade claim only, contradictory
Hossein Kashizadehsignature in Persian and Latin scriptrugs.nettrade claim only
Gholbafansignature flanked by camel and elephant figuresrugs.nettrade claim only
Darakhshansignature in the borderrugs.nettrade claim only

On the honours list: it records 100 “worthy personalities” with their place of residence, without profession or workshop. A Javad Kazemi from Qom also appears on it. Whether he is connected with the signature “Kazemi” remains open.

Older names from oral history

The 2022 session names further people from the early years (Hawzah News). Around 1342/43 (1963–65) Mohammad Rezvani trained together with Mohammad Jamshidi under Haj Ebrahim Montazeri, later under Jafar-agha Arsalani, whose grandfather, he said, was Ous Gholamhossein Arsalani. Rezvani also recalled merchants: the bankruptcy of the dealer Haj Gholamhossein Azadikhah, some 1.2 million toman, had hit the Qom carpet hard. After that, Ali Esfahani (Radmanesh) from Tehran and Haj Habibollah Nakhaei were important buyers.

The sources disagree

Erami or Arsalani as founder. Beytoote and Carpetour see Haj Mahmoud Erami as an early migrant and promoter of village weaving. Rezvani calls Ous Gholamhossein Arsalani the “father of the Qom carpet”. Both claims are tradition; the background is explained in the article Qom carpets: history and origins. Seirafian. Little Persia counts Ahmad Seirafian among the best-known weavers from the Qom area. The English Wikipedia, by contrast, calls Seirafian the most famous workshop of Isfahan (Wikipedia: Isfahan rug). No specialist source was found for either attribution. Habibian. For this family there is only Little Persia’s attribution to Qom.

Why so little is attested

The only scholarly source on the Qom carpet economy, Willem Floor’s Iranica contribution after Marcel Bazin, describes a village-based production. The municipal administration supplied materials and designs (Iranica, Carpets xii). Floor names no individual masters. Nor was any object page of a modern Qom carpet with workshop information found in the museum collections examined.

Persian oral history partly fills this gap. It supplies names, dates and memories, but no documents. In the 2022 session the Qom researcher Seyed Mohsen Mohseni proposed a dictionary of the Qom carpet. Terms such as rang-e dughi (colour dyed with dugh) should, he said, be collected and explained so that researchers can use them.

What you can do with this register

If your carpet bears one of these names, you now know which statements about that workshop can be verified. Treat rankings such as “best master” as advertising as long as no independent source supports them. Note the Persian spelling of the signature. With the Erami brand it is also worth asking for the certificate of origin.

The editors welcome pointers to reliable sources, such as company records, exhibition catalogues or scholarly papers. Every new entry is added with its source and status.

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Sources

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