Persian rugs - a family heirloom

If you treasure your Persian rug today, future generations will cherish it as a family heirloom tomorrow.

Whatever the age or design of your Persian rug, generations to come will cherish it for a host of reasons. To the children, your Persian rug will be the magic carpet that transports them to faraway lands in their imaginations. To the young professionals your Persian rug will be the talking point with visitors. And to the whole family, your Persian rug will sit at the heart of the home. What better reason to discover the provenance of your Persian rug?

You can discover more about your Persian rug on our ‘carpet type’ page, but here are some fascinating facts that will make the story behind your Persian rug more intriguing still.

Originally Persian rugs were made for the practical purpose of covering walls and floors of nomadic tents. This practice started back in the mists of time before any written records began and still continues today. However, as the craft became more sophisticated, fine Persian rugs became symbols of wealth in courts across Europe and the East.

To make a Persian rug in the early days required tremendous perseverance. Even with a group of nomadic weavers working together, it took months or even years to construct a single Persian rug. When it came time for the tribe to migrate to another area, the entire loom was dismantled and the Persian rug folded and put away. When spring arrived, the loom would be set up again.

Perhaps the most important time in the history of Persian rugs came with the accession to power of the Safavid rulers of Persia in the 16th century. Approximately 1500 examples are preserved in various museums and private collections world-wide. A hundred years later during the reign of Shah Abbas, commerce and crafts prospered in Persia. Shah Abbas encouraged trade with Europe and transformed Isfahan into one of the most glorious cities of Persia. He also created a court workshop for Persian rugs where skilled designers and craftsmen set to work to create works of art. Most of these Persian rugs were made of silk, and the gold and silver threads woven through made them priceless.

The legend behind the phrase "Persian flaw" goes that in ancient times, Persian rug makers were deeply religious and believed that only God could make something perfect. They would deliberately drop in a small faulty stitch, a flaw, into each Persian rug. In doing so, a “Persian Flaw” revealed the rug maker’s devotion to God.

The Persian rug was a form of writing for the illiterate tribesmen, setting down their fortunes and setbacks, their aspirations and joys. It also came to be used as a prayer mat by thousands of Muslim believers.

The oldest known Persian rug, the Pazyryck Carpet, was discovered by a group of scientists in 1949. It was entombed in ice in the Siberian Mountains and is the oldest preserved knotted carpet in the world. Today it is housed in the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad.

In 1976 the Carpet Museum of Iran in Tehran was founded specifically to preserve and restore the art of the Persian rug. The museum exhibits Persian rugs from all over Iran dating from the 18th century to the present day, and houses a repair shop, classes in carpet weaving, design of motifs, and restoration. Even the museum’s design is unique – the white structure looks like a Persian rug being woven on a loom!

Whatever the history behind your Persian rug, you and your family are part of a rich tradition that spans continents and centuries.
We at Karel Weijand are happy to answer any queries you may have about each of the Persian rugs we have in stock. Call us on 01252 726215, e-mail us at carpets@karelweijand.com or visit our showroom today.