Old Shirvan | 262 x 165 cm | Nr. Z-900

Old Shirvan

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	Caucasus
Dimensions	262 cm x 165 cm (= 4.32 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes)
knots	250.000
Condition	pre-owned, cleaned & partially restored
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Shirvan (also Schirwan) rugs are knotted by hand in the eastern Caucasus, in the Shirvan region. Shirvan rugs are knotted from exceptionally fine wool and have a low pile. Old Shirvans are greatly valued and highly rated among collectors in Europe. They not infrequently reach a knot count of up to 300,000 knots per m².

The wide border is characteristic of Shirvan rugs. A broad main stripe is framed by 2 – 6 secondary stripes. The field is often shaped by imaginative geometric patterns. In terms of colour, these rugs are frequently marked by blue knotting, but also by red and ivory. The many-coloured patterns result in a fine and versatile palette.

This Old Shirvan is around 76 years old and a genuine collector's piece.

Material

The technique used to produce the materials for the pile of this Old Schirwan is more than 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant dyes is more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, around one kilo of ground madder root is needed as dye for every kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that is not too pale, as much as two kilograms of weld dye is needed per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is time-consuming and labour-intensive too. What is more, fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural colours allows the high-quality wool to keep its natural oil content. Wool that has been dyed with natural colours and spun by hand creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, comes into its own as a contrast in modern interiors, but equally in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country style.

The weft and warp threads of this Old Shirvan are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and pliable, which makes it particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Old Schirwan. It has had owners before you who valued and used it. It was knotted around 76. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good, though only partly restored, condition. The pile is worn in places. The edges are damaged in parts. The fringes could do with a repair. We have not fully restored this Old Schirwan, because we feel it has a special character just as it is. If you would like us to, we will of course carry the restoration further for you. We can bring almost any rug back to near-perfect condition.