This gabbeh is a lustrous tribal weaving with an inventive and skillfully balanced motif that defies its humble origins in mid-century Iran. Hand-woven by a Qashqai weaver, the rug presents a range of warm, natural earth-tones.
Undyed Wool in a Range of Shades
The rug is a study in the appealing color vocabulary of wool its natural, undyed state. At its center is a hooked totem with three stacked diamonds, each an open window of taupe, gray, and brown wool skillfully woven to achieve a mottled effect echoing an animal pelt. This is set against a background field of soft ivory, warm and rich in hue. Surrounding the rug is a diamond-studded main border with serrated inner and outer guards.
The weaver skillfully used negative space. The totem and border elements interlock to create balance and visual interest. And in its totality, the motif suggests movement, like a coiled serpent.
Notably, the rug is woven on warps of goat hair, which are thick, rigid, and a testament to the use of natural materials in a pastoral weaving culture.
Indigenous Artistry through Natural Materials
This piece is a gabbeh, a short-pile weaving used as a sleeping rug by nomadic herders. Only in recent decades have Western dealers and collectors developed an enthusiasm for the artistic merit and graphic quality of gabbehs. Like flatweaves and other tribal productions, the expressiveness and originality of these pieces burnishes their decorative use and collectability.
The rug was woven in the middle of the twentieth century by a Qashqai weaver from southwestern Iran. As the rug scholar James Opie has observed, “the prominence of this tribal group has long been expressed through the medium of its weaving traditions,” and in most cases, this is synonymous with the extensive use of brightly colored wool dyed in a constellation of hues: green, yellow, red, and blue. However, rugs woven of undyed wool are also known, including the present piece (Opie, Tribal Rugs: Nomadic and Village Weavings from the Near East and Central Asia, 1992, p. 168-170).
Condition and Use
The rug is in excellent vintage condition. Its wool is soft and lustrous, and the piece will withstand heavy floor use. The fringe is fully intact.
Use of a rug pad is recommended to anchor the rug in place.
