More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell

Persian Rugs: Guide to Sanandaj Rugs and Carpets

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Persian Rugs: Guide to Sanandaj Rugs and Carpets

Sannandaj is both a city that is a market center for Iranian Kurdistan. When we speak of the rugs of Sannandaj we are really talking about the

Qeshlaq Bridge Sanandaj Kurdestan

Sennehbaf Carpet Northwest Persia Circa 1925 lot 88

Sanandaj is a major busling city of close to 400,000 people. It is the largest predominantly Kurdish city in Iran and is the capital of the province of Kurdestan. The people of Sanandaj are predominiently Sineyi or Sine'i kurds of the Sorani or Centeral Kurdish group.

Sennah, Senneh, Sana, Sanandaj or Sanandag.

Senneh is one of a small handful of Persian cities with an appreciable carpet production before the modern commercial carpet period began. For a discussion of Senneh carpet production before 1870 see Leonard M. Helfgott's Ties That Bind pages 135, 209, and 221. What we see from a variety of sources is that weaving in Senneh dates back into at least the classical [period and perhaps much longer.

Kurdish men in their traditional garb Kurdestan province

The Kurds of Sannandaj

The majority of the Kurds of Kordestan speak dialects of Central Kurdish and are Sunni Moslems. In the east of Kordestan are some Southern Kurds which include the Bijari Kurds who are Shia. We deal with theBijari Kurds in Guide to Bijar Rugs

Herati Medallion Sennah

Senneh Carpet Circa 1820 - 1840

Sennah Carpets

Detail - Back Galerie Arabesque/Craycraft Senneh Carpet Circa 1820 - 1840

Structure

Pre-1870 carpets tend to be finner. The wool tend to have a lot of twist. Normally warps are straight and wefts interlace around the warps but with Senneh rugs the wefts are straight and the warps interlace. The knots in a Senneh rug are compact so that each nodes are together making one bump. This with the high twwist makes a rough back which is commonly compared to sandpaper,

Newer rugs gfrom Sannandaj are often wovenin a very different weave closer to a Bijar rug weave.

The Gol-i-Bolbol Senneh

A. Cecil Edwards wrote in The Persian Carpet that in the 1940s had shifted away from the old traditional Senneh patterns and were focusing on the Herati pattern. One of the old patterns Edwards mentions is the Gol-i-Bolbol. Gol - flower and Bolbol is a type of bird so the pattern is the Flower and Bird pattern. To the right we see a traditional Gol-i-Bolbol. Compare this detail to The Persian Carpet plate 118.

Senneh Gol-i-Bolbol Carpet Circa 1890 lot 193