Isfahan Silk Warp Persian Rug, Mid 20th Century
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 Isfahan Persian rug from central Persia, hand-knotted in fine wool on a silk foundation in the mid-20th century, with a star medallion on an ivory field.
A lobed star medallion in saffron, ivory and navy sits at the centre of the field, with pendants above and below and black and gold arabesques unfolding from it towards corners of pale blue. Palmettes, blossoms and scrolling vines in powder blue, salmon and brown fill the ivory ground, in the fully curvilinear drawing that Isfahan, the old capital of Safavid Persia, has been known for since the sixteenth century. A wide sage-green border carries more of the same between guards of ivory and gold.
The foundation is silk, and that is what makes a weave this fine possible. Silk warps can be spun thinner and set closer than cotton, so the drawing stays crisp at the smallest scale and the rug lies flat and supple. Silk foundations were reserved for the best Isfahan workshop weaving, and the fringes are the silk warps themselves.
The colours are natural dyes, and the rug carries the abrash that comes with them, the shifts of shade that appear where the weavers moved on to a new hand-dyed batch of yarn. Partway along its length the sage border warms to olive and the palmettes in it turn from slate to rust, and the corner spandrels and the ivory field change with them, all at the same point across the full width. Around those shifts the palette is the cool, light one that mid-century Isfahan made its own: ivory and sage, powder blue and navy, and a clear saffron that carries the outlines.
The pile is full and even across the whole rug, and the ends have been resecured.
At 325 by 198cm it suits a living room, dining room or bedroom. View it in our Richmond gallery, or explore more vintage Persian rugs.
SPECIFICATIONS
How it sits in your room.
325 × 198 CM (10'8" × 6'6"), DRAWN TO SCALE WITH TYPICAL AUSTRALIAN FURNITURE SIZES.
A 4-seater sofa along the long side with its front legs on the rug and 33 cm of rug past each arm, a coffee table on the rug. It is not deep enough for armchairs opposite as well.
The chairs sit on the rug at the table, but with 59 cm of rug beyond the table their back legs catch the edge when pulled out. 60 cm is the comfortable margin.
Under the lower part of a king bed with 71 cm of rug showing on each side, so your feet land on it either side of the bed.
Measure the room, or just the area the rug should cover, and we will draw this rug in it to scale.
