Origin: Bijar, Northwest Persia

Wool on cotton foundation.

Age: 30 years

Dimesnions: 4' 3" x 2' 10" 

Bijar, a town almost exactly due west of Tehran in north-west Persia, has given its name to the surrounding area and is a term used generically to describe all the rugs from the many villages that are marketed both through Bijar itself and through Tehran. The principal characteristic of Bijar rugs is great thickness and durability; whereas older examples were single wefted, those made in the last 70 or 80 years have tended to be double wefted. All are symmetrically knotted, and the rows of knots are beaten down at the time of weaving to create this dense and extremely hardwearing fabric. This is a Kurdish area and the designs, therefore, follow the Kurdish repertoire of floral and geometric motifs and often have large and somewhat eccentric medallion designs that commentators have tried to associate with various ancient Kurdish belief systems, including shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and several somewhat odd cults of their own. Almost a distinct type from the rugs and carpets that make up the market in Bijar weavings today, are the late 19th century and early 20th century examples often marketed under the name Garrus. This was the name formerly given to Bijar and was also the family name of the ruling family of Kurdish khans. Several carpets with inscriptions to members of this illustrious family have survived and some of these are woven in a manner distinct from later Bijar rugs. Although almost all are symmetrically knotted and double wefted, a small number have been recorded with single wefts and, very occasionally, silk wefts, either bleached white or dyed red. This Bijar carpet displays the characteristics associated with traditional Bijar weaving. The design as seen here referred to as the 'herati' design is frequently seen in Bijar weavings. The 'herati' design is an all over repeat pattern formed by a number of individual floral elements combined together and then repeated. It is normally made up of a flower head framed by a rhombus linked to a set of four leaves, and then repeated to form an all over design. The origins of the 'herati' pattern date back to the late 16th and early 17th century, and is seen in Safavid Persian Court carpets of that time. The design can be seen in varying scales. The early versions tend to display bold open renditions of the pattern details, whereas this example is based on a popular style as seen in the 'revivalist' period of Persian woven art dating from the late 19th century, through to the present day. The 'herati' pattern has always been a popular pattern in decorative furnishing rugs and is created in varying guises throughout the Eastern rug making world. The colours are from a characteristic extensive Bijar colour palette, the rich jewel like tones of which suggest that this carpet was probably made between 1950 - 1960.