Gabbeh | 230 x 185 cm | Nr. 12-481086

Gabbeh

Origin

Gabbeh rugs are knotted by nomads living in the province of Fars, near the city of Shiraz. In Persian, Gabbeh is the name for high-pile rugs that were slept on. Classic Gabbeh have inventive, naive geometric patterns and are full of colour. Modern Gabbeh today mostly come in plain and monochrome designs. Even now, though, the rugs also carry stylised patterns from everyday nomadic life, such as goats, camels, dogs, plants or people. Gabbeh rugs usually come in natural cream, brown and grey tones, but you can also find lively yellow, red or blue.

Material

Gabbehs are knotted by hand from hand-spun wool and dyed with natural colours. The hand-spun wool gives the rugs a grainy yet soft surface. Traditionally, Gabbeh rugs were used for sleeping. They invite you to sit and lounge about in the living room, but they are also excellent in hallways and dining areas.

Hand-spun wool is always a little irregular. During dyeing, the natural pigments are taken up to differing degrees. This makes the rug look more alive, producing so-called colour shifts, or abrash — light and dark shadings of colour. These changes of tone in the pile yarn always run across the length of the Gabbeh and make the rug forgiving when it comes to dirt.