Antique Afshari | 196 x 147 cm | Nr. Z-1779

Floral antique Afshari, cream white with border

Origin	Persia
Dimensions	196 cm x 147 cm (= 2.88 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	200.000
Pile height	5mm
Year of manufacture	1930
Colour	Cream white, Rust red
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The Afshar (also written Afschar) were an important Oghuz tribe. The "i" in the name Afshari corresponds to our preposition "of". So Afshari simply means rug of the Afshar. The Persian Afshar originally lived in the north-west of Iran, on the Afghan border. Part of the tribe was forcibly resettled to the south-east of Iran, near the city of Kerman, which lies on the Silk Road. There, knotting rugs became an important source of income for the Afshar. Ever since that resettlement, the Afshar have also been known for their distinctive hand-knotted Afshar rugs. Afshar rugs are sometimes traded under the name Sirdjan rugs as well. The rugs come in red and blue tones and mostly geometric patterns. The most widespread pattern has a field in the centre holding one or more square rosettes. It is thought that this central field represents a stretched animal hide. This antique Afshari is a collector's piece. It is around 90 years old, and that alone makes it a truly special piece. Antique rugs like this Afshari remain highly sought after and fetch top prices at renowned auction houses.

Pattern

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

The lavish floral motifs of this Afshari are elegantly drawn and full of variety. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The repeating elements of this Afshari rug have no particular centre. The recurring repeat pattern feels calming, yet never dull. Rugs with a repeat pattern are also described as all-over patterned.

The background of this Afshari is cream white. The border is worked in yellow, dark blue and rust red.

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Afshari. It had owners before you who valued it and used it. It was hand-knotted around 1930. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but unrestored condition. The edges are damaged in places. The fringes could do with a repair. We have not restored this Afshari because we feel it has a particular charm just as it is. If that is what you want, we will of course be happy to restore the rug for you. Either way, this Afshari will bring you pleasure for decades to come.

Material

The technique used to make the materials for the pile of this Afshari is over 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, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dyestuff per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that is not too pale you even need two kilograms of the dyestuff weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is time- and labour-intensive as well. And fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: because it is dyed with natural colours, the high-grade wool keeps its natural lanolin content. Wool dyed with natural colours and spun by hand creates fascinating, shifting 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-house style. The weft and warp threads of this Afshari are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it especially suited to a hard-wearing foundation.