Antique Tehran Persian Area Rug

The niche format was particularly popular in Persian city weaving in both smaller scatter and larger carpet formats in the years around 1900, especially for Western export markets where the retail clientele was seeking something exotic and “oriental”. Often a central tall “tree of life” organizes the pattern, but here, on the gently abrashed sandy-straw field, a bent axial tree defines the upper half of the field while a shorter verdantly flowering shrub below continues the basic guiding principle. Around are set shorter blossoming and branched trees, which, along with even smaller tertiary tress and closely packed flower sprays, created a jungle or “paradise park” design. This basic pattern descends from 16th century Persian archetypes, but the cypresses present in these carpets are absent here. The sense of verticality is, however, not impaired. Perched in the trees are various species of somewhat stylized birds native to Persian gardens: bulbuls (nightingales), doves, ravens and other songbirds. At the bases of several trees are ibex or goat-like ruminants. Unlike many jungle rugs, there are no predator/prey combat pairings. The light blue spandrels display palmette, rosette, vinery and leaf designs. The animal motives are repeated in the red main border with pairs of cream and tawny animals running with separating palmettes. The lighter quadruped turns its head to glance at its pursuer. This seems to be a predator/prey combination. The palmettes alternately face in and out in a classic balancing approach. One style shows long, closely aligned lotus petals while the other type displays shorter, dentate projections. The corners of the main border are turned effectively with diagonally placed palmettes. The ivory flanking minor borders both feature more birds. The weave is quite fine and even, with asymmetric (Persian) knots on an all cotton foundation. Detail tones include: straw, tawny yellow, light green, dark brown, light green, rust and light brown. There are no areas of dark blue or strong red in the field. The only significant red area is the border. The condition is quite good. [is this a Tehran or something else? spreadsheet says ‘Tehran’) .