Classic Antique

Historically, Isfahan was a weaving and cultural center of great importance with its culmination as the capital of Shah Abbas, the great patron of the arts in the 16th century, “The Golden Age of Persian Weaving”. Except for the period of the Afghan domination of the early 1700’s, Isfahan has long produced antique carpets of great technical skill and sophisticated aesthetics. Isfahan weavers of the 16th century were influenced by other important art forms including calligraphy, bookbinding, and mosaicwork. During this era, the royal city’s Persian carpet designers introduced distinctively curvilinear, delicate floral forms and the refined classical antique carpet designs such as the arabesque, scroll, vine interlacement, vase, and hunting motifs. The high knot density antique carpets in which Isfahan excelled continued to be woven in the late 19th and 20th centuries, maintaining the original inspiration and attention to refinement and detail. The finest materials were procured and utilized including silk, lamb’s wool (called kerke), and jewel-toned natural dyes to create collectible, investment-level antique Isfahan rugs. These Isfahan rugs are also excellent for decorative purposes, employing soft pastel tones, abundant ivory backgrounds, and elegant, delicate design motifs. The final close pile cutting in conjunction with a tightly knotted foundation yield a thin yet strong construction and highly resolute, clear carpet patterns. The finest Isfahan rugs are rarely surpassed in the realm of intricate, innovative, gentle swirling embellishments and stained glass-like, luminous dyework.

Heriz rugs are one of the most famous rugs from Iran, because of their very unique and distinguishable style. Heriz is a city located in northwestern Iran, near the city of Tabriz, which is a major rug-weaving center in Iran. Most often, Heriz rugs have oversized geometric medallions, that are crisply delineated against a rich red, rust or dark blue field. The pattern is almost always geometric, although some Heriz rugs have an all-over layout often together with geometric floral motives and less frequently curvilinear floral motives. Since the Heriz region is not too far from the Caucasus, many Heriz carpets have similar colors and drawings to Caucasian rugs. The most common colors are brownish red, light and dark pink, light and dark blue, greens, yellows and ivory. Blue and ivory are normally added to increase contrast. Serapi is a trade name given to better quality Heriz rugs thought to have been woven before 1900. In the United States, the highest quality of Heriz rugs are called Serapi. The name Serapi originates from the village of Serab. It is also located in northwestern Iran and has adopted some characteristics of Caucasian carpets. In the United States the highest quality of Antique Heriz Carpets are called Serapi.

Gabbeh weavers may be telling a story, depicting a landscape or scene, or even conveying an emotion. Most commonly Gabbeh will be asymmetric and woven to tell a story, with figures and symbols depicting parts of the weaver's "tale". It is this subjective and random process that renders a genuine Gabbeh a completely unique work of art, distinct from other Persian rugs and from many other types of weaving or knotting in general.

Historically, Isfahan was a weaving and cultural center of great importance with its culmination as the capital of Shah Abbas, the great patron of the arts in the 16th century, “The Golden Age of Persian Weaving”. Except for the period of the Afghan domination of the early 1700’s, Isfahan has long produced antique carpets of great technical skill and sophisticated aesthetics. Isfahan weavers of the 16th century were influenced by other important art forms including calligraphy, bookbinding, and mosaicwork. During this era, the royal city’s Persian carpet designers introduced distinctively curvilinear, delicate floral forms and the refined classical antique carpet designs such as the arabesque, scroll, vine interlacement, vase, and hunting motifs. The high knot density antique carpets in which Isfahan excelled continued to be woven in the late 19th and 20th centuries, maintaining the original inspiration and attention to refinement and detail. The finest materials were procured and utilized including silk, lamb’s wool (called kerke), and jewel-toned natural dyes to create collectible, investment-level antique Isfahan rugs. These Isfahan rugs are also excellent for decorative purposes, employing soft pastel tones, abundant ivory backgrounds, and elegant, delicate design motifs. The final close pile cutting in conjunction with a tightly knotted foundation yield a thin yet strong construction and highly resolute, clear carpet patterns. The finest Isfahan rugs are rarely surpassed in the realm of intricate, innovative, gentle swirling embellishments and stained glass-like, luminous dyework.

Heriz rugs are one of the most famous rugs from Iran, because of their very unique and distinguishable style. Heriz is a city located in northwestern Iran, near the city of Tabriz, which is a major rug-weaving center in Iran. Most often, Heriz rugs have oversized geometric medallions, that are crisply delineated against a rich red, rust or dark blue field. The pattern is almost always geometric, although some Heriz rugs have an all-over layout often together with geometric floral motives and less frequently curvilinear floral motives. Since the Heriz region is not too far from the Caucasus, many Heriz carpets have similar colors and drawings to Caucasian rugs. The most common colors are brownish red, light and dark pink, light and dark blue, greens, yellows and ivory. Blue and ivory are normally added to increase contrast. Serapi is a trade name given to better quality Heriz rugs thought to have been woven before 1900. In the United States, the highest quality of Heriz rugs are called Serapi. The name Serapi originates from the village of Serab. It is also located in northwestern Iran and has adopted some characteristics of Caucasian carpets. In the United States the highest quality of Antique Heriz Carpets are called Serapi.

Heriz rugs are one of the most famous rugs from Iran, because of their very unique and distinguishable style. Heriz is a city located in northwestern Iran, near the city of Tabriz, which is a major rug-weaving center in Iran. Most often, Heriz rugs have oversized geometric medallions, that are crisply delineated against a rich red, rust or dark blue field. The pattern is almost always geometric, although some Heriz rugs have an all-over layout often together with geometric floral motives and less frequently curvilinear floral motives. Since the Heriz region is not too far from the Caucasus, many Heriz carpets have similar colors and drawings to Caucasian rugs. The most common colors are brownish red, light and dark pink, light and dark blue, greens, yellows and ivory. Blue and ivory are normally added to increase contrast. Serapi is a trade name given to better quality Heriz rugs thought to have been woven before 1900. In the United States, the highest quality of Heriz rugs are called Serapi. The name Serapi originates from the village of Serab. It is also located in northwestern Iran and has adopted some characteristics of Caucasian carpets. In the United States the highest quality of Antique Heriz Carpets are called Serapi.