Antique Bijar Animal Garden Persian Rug, 1920–1940
A viewing is a request, not a booking: we write back within 24 hours to confirm a time, in open hours or out of them. No account needed.
ABOUT THIS PIECE
An antique Kurdish Bijar Persian rug, hand-knotted in wool on cotton between 1920 and 1940, with an animal garden of birds and leopards beneath a starry sky.
A pale blue sky of stars and clouds crosses the top of the field above a horizon of brighter red, and a pond full of fish runs along the foot. Between them, trees full of birds shelter spotted leopards, deer and other beasts, from the branches down to the water’s edge. The two halves nearly mirror each other, but the weaver changed the details from side to side. A deep brown border carries more birds and deer among flowering sprays, with a fan-tailed bird in each corner.
Bijar is the Kurdish weaving town of north-west Persia known for the densest rugs in the country, packed down row by row. This one is built the Bijar way, with symmetric knots, double-wefted on a cotton foundation, and it has a firm handle. Pictorial Bijars like this are far less common than the town’s medallion and Herati designs.
The palette is warm: a deep red field and the brown border, navy and pale sky blue, with apricot, salmon and a bright coral pink picking out the birds and flowers. The brown deepens almost to black at one end, where the weaver moved on to a new batch of wool.
The pile is full and even across the whole rug, the ends have been resecured, and it has never needed repair.
At 195 by 125cm it suits a living room, a study or a bedroom. View it in our Richmond gallery, or explore more antique and vintage Persian rugs.
SPECIFICATIONS
How it sits in your room.
195 × 125 CM (6'5" × 4'1"), DRAWN TO SCALE WITH TYPICAL AUSTRALIAN FURNITURE SIZES.
About the length of a 3-seater sofa, so it sits just in front of it with the coffee table on it. Floated like this it reads as a deliberate island rather than a rug that came up short.
Only 23 cm of rug would show beyond even a four-seat table, so the chairs would sit off it. This one belongs in a living room or bedroom.
Only 21 cm of rug would show either side of a queen bed. It works, but 45 cm or more looks settled. At the foot of the bed it suits well.
Measure the room, or just the area the rug should cover, and we will draw this rug in it to scale.
