Hamadan | 301 x 204 cm | Nr. Z-3440

Geometric Hamadan, light red with border and diamonds

Origin	Persia
Dimensions	301 cm x 204 cm (= 6.1404 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	90.000
Pile height	10mm
Year of manufacture	1950
Colour	Light red, dark blue
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Hamadan (also Hamedan) rugs are knotted in the area around the city of Hamadan in north-western Iran. Hamadan is one of the oldest cities in Persia and lies amid a well-watered fruit-growing region on the banks of the Qareh, at the foot of the Zagros foothills. Rug knotting has a centuries-old tradition in this region. Hamedan is a collective name, for village and nomad rugs from many surrounding places come onto the market in Hamedan. What is typical of rugs from the Hamadan region is that they are knotted with a single weft using the Turkish knot. That is to say, one weft thread is inserted after every row of knots. Persian rugs are normally knotted with two or three wefts.

Pattern

The ornate border forms a wonderful contrast with the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

The abstract, geometric composition is what gives this Hamadan its understated elegance. The pattern flatters the design of the room without stealing attention from the furniture, the décor and the architectural details. It settles beautifully into any setting and complements a room's furnishings in a subtle way.

The diamonds are the most striking feature in this Hamadan's pattern. A diamond is a rhombus standing on one of its points, and in an Oriental rug its four equal sides can be jagged, outlined or set with hooks. The diamond is one of the oldest basic forms in Oriental rugs. In the Islamic world it carries a symbolic meaning: it stands for the immortality of the soul. That is why it is found so often as a filler motif.

The background of this Hamadan is light red. The border is kept in dark blue.

Condition

You aren't the first to take a liking to this Hamadan. It has had owners before you who valued it and put it to use. It was hand-knotted in around 1950. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but only partly restored condition. In some places you can see a few white threads. That is entirely normal in older rugs. These are the knot ends of the weft and warp, which work their way to the surface over the years. In substance this is not a major issue. We have not fully restored this Hamadan because we feel it has a particular charm just as it is. If that is what you would like, we will of course gladly carry on restoring the rug for you. We can bring almost any rug back to near-perfect condition.

Material

The pile of this Hamadan was hand-knotted from high-quality new wool. New wool is obtained by gently shearing sheep. New wool is a renewable, natural raw material with a number of impressive properties: thanks to the natural lanolin in the wool, the surface repels water droplets and is naturally protected against dirt. Wool also provides excellent thermal insulation, helps regulate the indoor climate and dampens sound. The weft and warp threads of this Hamadan are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.