Even good quality floor rugs, woven in turn of the century Persian village workshops, tend to be formalistic and visually a little boring. There are, however, a few examples that avoid this shortcoming. This rug, created by an experienced and skilled weaver, is such an example.

The technique employed here is simple yet effective. One sees the weaver blending the inherent design formality or structure, common to village workshop rugs, with an imaginative and whimsical distribution of interesting and, at time, unusual secondary motifs.

The Kurdish weaving tradition abhors a vacuum and seldom leaves solid blocks of color untouched, although one should recognize certain Bijar village weaving as frequent exceptions. In that tradition, secondary motifs are placed about the rug as adornments without any particular purpose other than a desire to decorate and break the monotony of open field knotting.

In this rug the prominent multiple borders and the repeat octagonal field medallions are expertly woven but traditional and predictable.

It is the variety and distribution of the secondary field motifs that elevate the character and artistry of the rug, making it a special piece of woven art.

In the field, one sees three and four legged animals, stick-figure humanoids, a variety of boteh motifs, cloud bands and more. The result transforms the work from a simple floor piece to a unique furnishing rug of artistic merit.

Condition: Perfect. A portion of the upper border was re piled to address an area of prior moth damage.