Isfahan | 187 x 102 cm | Nr. 19393

Isfahan

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	Persia
Dimensions	187 cm x 102 cm (= 1.91 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: kork wool with pure silk
knots	900.000
Condition	pre-owned, cleaned & partially restored
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The city of Isfahan is one of the architectural jewels of the Islamic world. Isfahan owes its artistic tradition, its historic townscape and its arguably unique architecture to the Safavid dynasty and to Shah Abbas in particular. Floral motifs are typical of the patterns of Isfahan rugs. Designs with fourfold or lengthwise symmetry are widespread, with a medallion in the centre surrounded by arabesques, blossoms or birds. The ground colour is usually a classic red, and a luminous blue and a light beige are typical as well. With more than 15 shades in most cases, though, the Isfahan is decidedly colourful. The borders are often green-blue and decorated with flowering vines and palmettes.

In Iran, the fineness of Isfahan knotting is stated in cheft. Cheft are fine, usually blue vertical lines along the lower end webs. The closer the lines, the finer the knotting.

To this day, many Isfahan rugs carry a discreetly knotted inscription in Persian script along the lower edge, the so-called signature. It names the maker, the provenance Isfahan and often the country as well, either as the word Iran or as the Iranian national flag in green, white and red.

Rugs from the Seirafian workshop are especially sought after. The late master knotter Haj Agha Reza Seirafian lived from 1881 to 1975. Today he is known as the creator of the famous Seirafian rugs. Before he turned to rug production, Haj Agha Reza was a private banker in Isfahan. The Seirafian family still makes rugs today from the templates and designs of Haj Agha Reza Seirafian.

Material

The pile of this Isfahan was hand-knotted from kurk wool and silk. Kork, also spelled kurk, is a particularly fine knotting yarn with an almost velvety feel. Kurk wool is taken from the neck, the belly and the inner legs of the sheep and is of especially high quality. The pattern of this Isfahan is picked out in lustrous pure silk, which is reeled by hand from the cocoons of the silkworm. The silk elements create a shimmering contrast and make the colours glow in different shades, depending on how the light falls.

The weft threads of this Isfahan are made of cotton. Pure silk was used for the warp threads.

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Isfahan. It has had owners before you who valued and used it. It was knotted around 66. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but only partially restored condition. We have not fully restored this Isfahan, because we feel it has a special charm just as it is. If that is what you would like, we will of course be happy to carry on restoring the rug for you. We can bring almost any rug back to near-perfect condition.