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Naein
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Guide to Mashhad Carpets
Detail - A Saber Carpet Circa 1940
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W&W
Mashad carpet C. 1920-30 lot 141
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The oldest Mashhad rugs that I know of are a
group of prayer rugs that were given by Shah Tahmasp to Suleyman the
Magnificent in 1556. The rugs were made in three grades by the workshop
of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza son of Sam Mirza and nephew of Shah Tahmasp.
The top grade or Imperial grade was the finest and one of those rugs
was in London two years ago and I believe is now in the hands of
disgraced art collector Sheikh Saud Al-Thani of Qatar. Several of the
second and third grade examples are still in the Topkapi Museum.
In the 19th and 20th centuries Mashhad carpets
were popular items of commerce and were made for domestic use as well
as export. At one point the wool was heavily scoured so that it would
take dyes better. An unfortunate side affect was that the scouring took
all the lanolin out and the carpets did not last as long as other
Persian carpets. This created a negative image of Mashhad carpets in
some peoples minds. This was exploited by European and American dealers
to push rugs made by European firms since the Europeans never made the
inroads into Khorasan like they did in other areas this was a popular
story. The wear problems are no longer a factor and it is very rare to
see a Mashhad carpet with that today. The problem is old enough that
the ones that are prone to wear are already worn.
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Saber of Mashad.
The best rugs in the world today are from Iran. If
we are to make a short list of the best rugs from Iran we must include
Saber of Mashad. Master Ahmad Bazmi now runs the Saber Workshop after
the death of Master Abas Ali Saber by agreement with his heirs.
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| Amoghli Carpet
On one of my trips to Iran in 2004 I asked some of
the men in the trade about Amoghli which was one of the great Persian
Carpet workshops of the 20th Century. Under Ali Khan Amoghli and Abdol
Mohammad Amoghli their carpets were favorites under the Pahlavi Shahs
particularly Reza Shah. One of the men explained that the workshop was
gone but that the Grandsons had a very good carpet cleaning plant in
Mashhad
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Structure.
The majority of Mashhad
carpets are woven with an asymmetrical knot that may be over 4 warps
(Jufti) rather than the more usual two. The carpets are made with a
straight weft and then a sinuous weft forcing the foundation on to two
levels. Traditionally the colors used include a bluish red that was
obtained from insect dyes, first lak and later cochineal.
Oriental
Rugs the O'Connell Notes
Copyright
Barry O'Connell 2004 - 2007
Last revised:
October 06, 2009.
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