Important Notice

Circa 1920s
Approx. 15ft x 10ft 3in (457.2 x 313.9 cms)
Wool pile on cotton foundation, natural dye


The city of Kashan in central Persia has been a major center of carpet and textile production since the Safavid dynastyDuring the 16th and 17th centuries, its inhabitants, unable to make a living from the land, turned to textile production.The Afghan invasion of Persia in 1723 brought an end to most weaving centers due to unrest and turmoil with a revival of the tradition in the 19th century during the Qajar dynasty.The resurrection of handmade rugs competed with the machine made textiles exported to Persia from the West, with sophisticated workshops, such as Mohtasham, thriving.
The structure, highly sophisticated design, superior quality of wool and array of color of the present example illustrates the exceptional quality of carpets woven in Kashan inthe late 19th century and more specifically those attributed to the Dabir workshop that is believed to have woven some carpets for the Shah of Iran.
This carpet has a deep rich red field derieved most probably from the 'madder' creeper,completely covered in flowers with no medallions or corner work.There are hundreds of flowers, all connected with interspersed vines and arabesques.Every single flower is connected to every single flower in an intricate, never ending tangle of foliage.The border is the most beautiful natural 'Indigo' Blue with more flowers, upon flowers, upon flowers.
The rug is in a word 'exquisite' with gossamer silk like pashmina wool.At the end of the 19th century the local hand-weaving industry of textiles of Kashan had collapsed due to very cheap imports of textiles.The excessive imported Australian Merino and Pashmina (Cashmere) wool had hence been used for the first time for rug weaving.The results were stunning: velvet-like soft piles, a successful workmanship of finest and complex designs and new elegant color combinations.
As a result of the great success of these rugs e.g. Mohtashem. Mohtashem- and Dabir-Sanayeh-Kashans are particularly desired today and achieve collectors' prices if preserved in the right condition as is this one.
Kashan rugs are almost entirely woven by women - in homes as well as workshops. The Persian knot is used as opposed to the more common Turkish knot.Due to their unusually high quality, Kashan rugs are very durable and as a result there is a relatively high number of antique Kashan rugs in very good condition.

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