Description

Fine early 19th-century Senneh rug from the Kurdish part of Iran.

With its muted colour scheme and the very fine weave, this is an elegant large rug.

Rugs with a white ground colour to the field are often associated with weddings, and it is likely that our example is a dowry piece. The white-ground field is decorated with an all over masi awita (“fish-around-a-lotus”) pattern, which is also called a Herati design. The anchor medallion on a black ground in its centre and the spandrels are in the same design and in the same, somewhat pastelly colour combination.  The main floral border on a yellow ground is flanked by two minor borders with sweet, pale flower heads on a light green ground.

The rug is in good condition, with the original ends in place. It has a wool pile on an all cotton foundation.

For a discussion of rugs from this area, see James D. Burns, Antique Rugs from Kurdistan. A Historical Legacy of Woven Art. Burns 2002, particularly pages 116 to 117.

POA