Older Sabzavar Persian Carpet

Older Sabzavar Persian Carpet Size: 9 foot 9 inch. by 12 foot 5 inch. This is a large well made Persian Carpet from Khorasan.  Of all the East Persian rugs these are some of the very best. They wear well and look beautiful. Sabzavar is the home of some of the very best wool because of the trace minerals in the water. Sheep need trace amounts of copper in the water to produce the highest quality wool. How We Select Our Rugs Color is difficult over the internet, please use the Direct Scan below for the best representation of color in this rug. All our Rugs and Textiles are Handmade.

Sabzavar Carpet. Sabzavar, Iran, Mid 20th century. Size: 9 foot 9 inch. by 12 foot 5 inch. Structure: Symmetrical knot. 8 knots per horizontal inch and 9 knots per vertical inch. 72 per square inch (1116 per square decimeter) Yarn Spin: Z. Warp: 3 ply  ivory cotton. Weft: 2 shot cotton. Pile: 2 wool singles. Ends: Post-hitch wharf binding with 1 inch warp fringe. Selvages: 1 cord overcastting blue cotton. Handle: Heavy, dense, durable. Further Notes: Excellent condition

What is a Sabzavar?

For hundreds of years Sabzavar has been an important carpet production center. The production is usually sold in Europe or held for domestic use in Iran. When they are imported to the United States the better ones are called Isfahans or Kashans and the lesser ones are called Mesheds. The main difference between these rugs and Mesheds is they use much better wool.

Sabzavar as a historical Carpet Center

Sabzavar is the most probable source of the great vase carpets of the Sixteenth century.  I realize that such leading luminaries as the late Charles Grant Ellis and the late Dr. May Beattie have suggested Kerman as the source but I have to disagree. Technically and stylistically we have three interrelated groups that musty be viewed as a whole. First there are Vase Carpets which are clearly related to Sanguszko Carpets and Sanguszko Carpets are clearly related to some of the so-called Salting Carpets. I suggest that Vase carpets and Sanguszko carpets must come from the same sixteenth century source. Further I suggest that Sanguszko Carpets are Court Carpets and must be the product of a court manufactory. There was no court and there was no court manufactory in Kerman in the Sixteenth century. There was no court manufactory in Kerman until at least the reign of Abbas Safavi the great. Obviously the Sanguszko carpets are clearly earlier and there fore can not be from either the court artists of Abbas Safavi or Kerman.

By the way I am not suggesting that Salting Carpets came from Sabzavar. However if we follow Persian history from the death of Soltan Ibrahim Mirza whose court produced the Vase carpets then it becomes obvious where the Salting Carpets must have been made.

For Further Reading: Guide to Rugs & Books

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Index to my Rug Notes

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