Many of the best Hamadan area rugs of the late 19^th – early 20^th century were woven in the Mehraban District.

To even the casual viewer, this rug has a stately, almost elegant, countenance.

The pile is lustrous and of uncommon density.

The colors are deeply saturated, nuanced and wide ranging.

Equally impressive is the imaginative field composition.

The weaver selected a ‘cycle of life’ theme.  That theme is depicted in a garden or floral context.

In the middle of the field is a mature, indigo flower head in full bloom.

This flower divides the field composition.  The upper half is simply a reflection of the lower portion.

There is a similar but compressed indigo flower at the bottom of the rug.

The compressed nature of this flower suggests that this is a young plant.

At the bottom of this flower, vines with closed buds flow upward, implicitly toward the sun, toward growth and full maturity.

Eventually, several of these buds are transformed into a full blossomed, coral-red flower with four projecting petals.

Most of the colors in the buds also are used in the coral-red flower.

The border design is also interesting.  One might reasonably interpret it to be the well-known ‘dragon’ design.

When I look at the side borders I see full-body bird figures.

There is a head with open beak, an eye and geometric body form.  These forms are, in turn, connected to others of similar configuration.

Condition:  The condition of the rug is nearly perfect.  There is very slight oxidation to the olive-green accent color.  The ends are missing but with no loss of pile.  Both ends have been stabilized to prevent pile loss.

$3,500.00