Bidjar carpet, $16,500

Bidjar carpet

from western Persia

late 19th century

Size: 356 x 241 cm

List Price: $. 19,800

Sale Price: $. 16,500

A predominantly Kurdish township in western Persia, Bidjar has had a long association with rug making. Whilst many large carpets were made here and in the surrounding villages, designs were not copied directly from cartoons as with large carpet production in urban workshops. The motifs were taken from knotted samplers called wagireh, or, simply passed down from generation to generation as part of the weaver’s repertoire. As a consequence Bidjars tend to display a much greater degree of vitality and spontaneity in their design and colour. They are typically of robust construction where the foundation warps and wefts are densely packed to give the carpets a ‘stiff’ handle. Weavings from the Bidjar area are considered amongst the most durable of all hand made oriental carpets.