Farahan | 122 x 76 cm | Nr. 263717

Floral Farahan, turquoise with border

Origin	Pakistan
Dimensions	122 cm x 76 cm (= 0.93 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	160.000
Pile height	5mm
Condition	new
Colour	Turquoise, Beige
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

 

Origin

Farahan is a district in the central Iranian province of Markazi. It gave its name to a classic floral pattern found on rugs from the Mahallat region around the town of Sultanabad.

From the 1870s onwards, the Mahallat region around the town of Sultanabad (formerly Arak) grew into an important centre for knotting Persian rugs for export. A key role in this was played by the English import house Messrs. Ziegler & Co. Ltd., run by a Swiss merchant, which opened a branch in Mahallat in 1883.

These rugs — also called Mahal, Ziegler-Mahal or simply Ziegler — were knotted in the surrounding villages to Western colour and pattern specifications. The blend of European design briefs in lighter, calmer colouring with classic patterns in the style of Farahan and Sultanabad rugs was very well received in Europe.

The success was enormous, and Ziegler rugs became an international mark of quality. The exquisite flow of the many-petalled flowers is particularly impressive in Ziegler rugs. Well-preserved antique Ziegler rugs fetch record prices today – above all in the USA. For some years now, these antique Ziegler designs have been re-knotted in high quality in Pakistan and India.

The newly issued Ziegler rugs, made from hand-spun wool dyed with natural colours, are part of a revival of hand-knotted rugs. This return to traditional techniques began in the early 1980s, driven among others by the so-called DOBAG initiative. At first, the reproductions concentrated on the Ziegler rugs described above. After that, almost every traditional Persian pattern began to be reproduced. This is how adaptations of antique rugs came about, as well as contemporary designs with the charm of an antique piece. Medallion

 

Pattern

The lush floral motifs of this Farahan are elegant and full of variety. The graceful plant forms, showing blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The abstract, geometric composition is what gives this Farahan its understated elegance. The pattern flatters the design of the room and never draws attention away from the furniture, the décor or the architectural features. It creates a pleasant atmosphere without dominating the style of the room.

The edge of the rug is graced by a surround (border). The border forms a wonderful contrast to the centre.

The surface of this Farahan has a mottled look. 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 feel. The mottling occurs because the wool of this Farahan was hand-spun. During dyeing, the natural pigments are absorbed to differing degrees.

The background of this Farahan is turquoise. The border is worked in beige and turquoise. In the dark red centre, beige and light brown are combined.

 

Material

The technique used to make the materials for the pile of this Farahan is more than 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant-based 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 for every kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that isn't too pale, it even takes two kilograms of weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is time-consuming and labour-intensive too. And fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort pays off: dyeing with natural colours lets the high-quality wool keep its natural lanolin content. Wool 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 just as much in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country style. The weft and warp threads of this Farahan are cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it ideal for a hard-wearing foundation weave.