Indian Gabbeh | 91 x 61 cm | Nr. Z-4154

Indian Gabbeh

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	India
Dimensions	91 cm x 61 cm (= 0.56 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool
knots	200.000
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

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.

The pattern of this rug is inspired by the pattern of classic Indian Gabbeh rugs. This rug, however, was knotted in India.

Exactly when rug production in India began is unknown. The first rugs in India were probably made during the cultural flowering of the Mughal dynasty in the middle of the 16th century. In the middle of the 19th century, with the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Indian rug production fell into crisis. European companies whose only aim was export to the West took the place of the traditional court manufactories. Very similar rugs were produced in different towns, and standardisation set in. Today, the designs of hand-knotted Indian rugs can scarcely be attributed to individual regions. Instead, the workshops have come to specialise in rendering European and traditional Iranian designs adapted to Western taste. In terms of quality, rugs from India benefit from the long tradition of craftsmanship and the high quality of Indian materials.

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 slightly irregular. During dyeing, the natural pigments are absorbed to differing degrees. The rug looks livelier for it, with so-called colour shifts (abrash) – light-and-dark shading. These changes in the tone of the pile yarn always run across the length of the Indian Gabbeh and make the rug forgiving of dirt.

The weft and warp threads of this Indian Gabbeh are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.