Notes on Oriental Rugs by Barry O'Connell

Antique Senneh Rugs and Carpets

Antique Senneh Persian Rug From Nazmiyal

Antique Senneh rugs are one of the most distinctive of all Persian Rugs. Even though the designs are often copied by Bidjar Rugs and Tabriz Rugs but just touching the rugs . Antique Senneh rugs use very tightly spun fine mountain wool. The pile is wondrously silky but the back is scratchy so much so that people compare the backs to sandpaper. Once you eel it it it is unmistakable thereafter. Antique Senneh rugs are fine and durable and are most appreciated by people who know Persian Rugs. The new Senneh rugs are completely diferent.

The Sine'i Kurds are part of the Central Kurdish group of Kurdish Rugs and Carpets,

Persian Rugs: Guide to Senneh Rugs and CarpetsSenneh Rugs and Carpets The Sine'i Kurds are part of the Central Kurdish group of Kurdish Rugs and Carpets,

Antique Senneh Persian Rugs

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.

The Kurds of Sannandaj

Sennah rugs are called Sennah because that is the dialect of the weavers. In most of the world dialect is more than just language it is an identity. 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 the Bijari Kurds in Guide to Bijar Rugs

Kurdish men in their traditional garb Kurdestan province

There is a temptation in "rug scholarship" to assume or imply that rugs are the product of their collection market centers. Sennah rugs are usually assigned to Sennah/Sanandajr but they are really the product of the Sennah speaking area around Sannandajr. There is a small production of Sennah workshop carpets that have a higher knot count and often have silk warps. These are the product of Sannandajr.

Herati Medallion Sennah

Senneh Carpet Circa 1820 - 1840

Sennah Carpets

Antique Senneh Rugs

Antique Senneh Persian Rug from Nazmiyal

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

Structure

Pre-1870 carpets tend to be finer. 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 twist makes a rough back which is commonly compared to sandpaper,

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