Old Sarough | 213 x 133 cm | Nr. 20120

Floral old Sarough, dark red with border and medallion

Origin	Persia
Dimensions	213 cm x 133 cm (= 2.83 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	250.000
Pile height	5mm
Year of manufacture	1920
Colour	Dark red, dark blue
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

This rug comes from Sarough (also Sarouk, Saruk or Sarogh). Sarough is one of Iran's best-known rug-knotting regions. Located in the west Persian province of Aarak, it takes in the provenances Arak, Djozan, Ghiasabad, Mahal, Malayer, Mohajeran, Sultanabad and Wiss. In Sarough, Persian patterns of every kind are knotted, in part also to the specifications of the customer. Especially popular are the neighbouring Farahan designs, the region's own Sultanabad patterns and the so-called Mir-i-Boteh pattern made up of paisley motifs. Typical of this class of rug is the very good wool quality of the pile, as the new wool comes from the Persian highlands. The foundation – warp and weft – is, however, usually made of cotton. In old and antique rugs you will often find a blue weft thread. The knotting is very fine and the pile relatively high. This old Sarough is around 100 years old and a real collector's piece.

Pattern

The lavish floral motifs of this Sarough are elegant and wonderfully varied. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The edge of the rug is framed by a decorative border. The border forms a beautiful contrast with the centre.

At the heart of this Sarough's central field lies the symmetrical centrepiece, also known as the medallion. The design of the field is subordinate to the medallion, so that the medallion seems to float on the field.

The surface of this Sarough looks gently mottled. The shifts in tone and the light-and-dark shading of the pile yarn make the colours shimmer and keep the rug forgiving of dirt. These so-called colour shifts, known as abrash, give the rug a livelier look. The mottling comes about because the wool of this Sarough was hand-spun. During dyeing, the natural dyes are taken up to differing degrees.

The background of this Sarough is dark red. The border is worked in dark blue and golden beige. The olive-green centre combines dark blue with light brown.

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Sarough. It has had owners before you who valued it and lived with it. It was hand-knotted around 1920. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but unrestored condition. The pile and the fringes are a little worn in places and could do with a repair. We have not restored this Sarough because we feel it has a special presence exactly as it is. If you would like us to, we will of course gladly restore the rug for you. Either way, this Sarough will give you pleasure for decades to come.

Material

The pile of this Sarough was hand-knotted from high-quality new wool. New wool is obtained by gently shearing sheep. New wool is a renewable, natural raw material with a number of impressive properties: thanks to the wool's natural lanolin content, the surface repels droplets of water and is thus naturally protected against dirt. Wool also offers excellent thermal insulation, helps regulate the indoor climate and dampens sound. The weft and warp threads of this Sarough are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic and therefore particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.