Moud and neighbouring Birjand are two small adjacent towns south of Mashad, in the province of Khorrassan. They have no buildings of interest and their chief product, apart from carpets, is barberry, which is used when dying with cochineal. Several villages in the surrounding area, the Rud-e-Shahrud valley, also produce carpets.
The hand knotted carpets of the area are characterized by consistency of design and quality. They always have a ground of the Mahi or Herati design (the town of Herat lies some 300 km north-east in Afghanistan) on a cream background and sometimes there will be a circular medallion. The predominant colors are ivory, blue, red and brown. The warps and wefts are cotton, the pile wool. The borders are a version of the traditional Persian turtle border. All sizes are produced. The area is exceptional for regularly weaving square carpets of 2 m x 2 m—only Moud, Kerman and Abadeh make this size frequently. Because of their extreme regularity, Moud carpets are frequently copied in India. Other weaving centers which come within the general category of Birjand are Khorasan, Kashmar, Sazevar and Semnan.
babaksorientalcarpets 