Antique Sarough | 125 x 62 cm | Nr. Z-2526

Floral antique Sarough, dusky pink with medallion and border

Origin	Persia
Dimensions	125 cm x 62 cm (= 0.775 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	300.000
Pile height	500
Year of manufacture	1920
Colour	Dusky pink, dark blue
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

This rug comes from Sarough (also written Sarouk, Saruk or Sarogh). Sarough is one of the best-known rug-knotting regions in Iran. Located in the western 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 customer's own specifications. Particular favourites are the neighbouring Farahan patterns as well as the region's own Sultanabad designs and the so-called Mir-i-Boteh pattern made up of paisley motifs. Typical of this type 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 usually cotton, however. In old and antique rugs you will often find a blue weft thread. The knotting is very fine and the pile relatively high. This antique Sarough is a collector's piece. It is around 100 years old, and that alone makes it a truly special piece. Antique rugs like this Sarough are as popular as ever and fetch top prices at renowned auction houses.

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.

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

The overall impression is dominated by dusky pink and dark blue. The border is worked in dusky pink and dark blue. At the centre, dusky pink and dark blue are combined.

Condition

This Sarough has a story to tell. It was hand-knotted around 1920. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but unrestored condition. The pile is worn in places. One corner of the fringes could do with a repair of about 5cm. We have not restored this Sarough, because we feel it has a special charm just as it is. If you would like us to, we will of course be happy to restore the rug for you. Either way, this Sarough will give you pleasure for decades to come.

Material

The technique used to make the materials for this Sarough's pile 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, 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 labour-intensive and takes time, too. And fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural dyes allows the high-quality wool to keep its natural lanolin content. Wool dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand produces fascinating, shifting patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, works beautifully 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 Sarough are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it especially suited to a hard-wearing foundation weave.