Indian Tabriz | 350 x 248 cm | Nr. 19584

Indian Tabriz

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	Persia
Dimensions	350 cm x 248 cm (= 8.68 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes)
knots	200.000
Condition	pre-owned, but in very good condition (cleaned & restored)
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Standing on Persia's northern border at the crossroads of countless caravan routes, the city of Tabriz (also written Tabris or Täbriz) has always been a melting pot of different ethnic and religious groups. Although the city lies on the border with Azerbaijan, the dialect spoken in Tabriz is related to Turkish. The bazaars of Tabriz have traded in craftwork for centuries, and above all in rugs from the surrounding villages.

The pattern of this rug is inspired by the designs of classic Indian Tabriz rugs. This particular 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

The technique used to prepare the materials for the pile of this Indian Tabriz 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 weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is labour-intensive and time-consuming too. And fewer and fewer people still master the art of spinning wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural colours allows the high-quality wool to keep its natural oil content. Wool that has been 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 equally in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country style.

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

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Indian Tabriz. It has had owners before you who treasured and used it. It was knotted around 56. We have cleaned it thoroughly and restored it with care. Despite its age, it is therefore in very good condition.