Old Nain Tudeshk | 308 x 235 cm | Nr. 14915

Floral old Nain Tudeshk, beige with border and medallion

Origin	Persia
Dimensions	308 cm x 235 cm (= 7.24 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: kork wool with pure silk Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	1.000.000
Pile height	3mm
Year of manufacture	1920
Colour	Beige
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

 

Origin

This rug was hand-knotted in the town of Tudeshk, not far from the oasis city of Nain. The region around Nain is one of Iran's best-known rug provenances (source, origin). The town of Nain lies north-west of Isfahan and has an old weaving tradition. Before the Qajar dynasty (1794 - 1925), the finest cloaks for noblemen – known as abas – were made here. Under the influence of Western culture, the traditional cloak was displaced as clothing by the suit. The weavers shifted their business and began knotting rugs.

Today's rugs from Nain owe their unmistakable patterns and colour combinations above all to the master Hadj Fatollah Habibian Naiini. He restricted himself to fewer than ten colours in his knotting and so laid the foundation for the colour composition of the Nain rugs that remain so popular today. To this day the base colours are usually white or beige and blue, although Nain rugs in red, green and yellow are appearing more and more often. Floral patterns whose outlines are accentuated with silk are typical. Thanks to their understated elegance, Nain rugs also work well in modern interiors.

Nain rugs are graded in four quality levels, given in Lah (the Persian word for layer). Lah describes the number of threads the warp is twisted from. The more threads are used, the thicker the warp and with it the knots, and the lower the knot density. This old Nain Tudeshk is around 100 years old and a true collector's piece.

 

Pattern

The lush floral motifs of this Nain Tudeshk are elegant and full of variety. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The decorated surround (border) forms a beautiful contrast to the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

In the middle of the central field of this Nain Tudeshk lies the symmetrical centre, also known as the medallion. The design of the field is subordinate to the medallion, so that the medallion appears to float on the field.

The background of this Nain Tudeshk is beige. The border is worked in beige-yellow, blue-grey and rust red. In the blue-grey centre, rust red and beige are combined.

 

Condition

This Nain Tudeshk has a history. It was hand-knotted around 1920. We have cleaned it thoroughly and lovingly restored it. Despite its age, it is therefore in very good condition.

 

Material

The pile of this Nain Tudeshk was hand-knotted from cork wool and silk. Cork wool, also known as kurk wool, is an especially fine-threaded knotting yarn that feels almost velvety. It is taken from the neck, the belly and the inner legs of the sheep and is particularly high in quality. The pattern of this Nain Tudeshk is picked out in lustrous pure silk, which is obtained by hand from the cocoons of the silkworm. The silk elements create a shimmering contrast and let the colours glow in different nuances, depending on how the light falls. The weft and warp threads of this Nain Tudeshk are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it especially well suited to a hard-wearing foundation weave.