Sarouk Carpet
Western Persia
13.0 x 21.10
Antique
Wool pile of asymmetric knots on a cotton foundation
This 1920’s Sarouk carpet has been attributed to the neighbouring village of Mohajeran on account of its dark blue ground.  The field pattern of floating, detached floral sprays in the ‘American Sarouk’ manner became popular just after WWI.  Interestingly enough, it was designed by the Armenian agent for the New York firm of Tavshanjian, and is not an indigenous Persian design. Mostly it appears on red Sarouks in the period up to the 1960’s. The earliest versions with blue grounds are lighter and more spacious. The dark blue field seemed to American buyers to be more luxurious, and the pattern got closer, busier and less complex in later years.  Here the large flowers and leaves are accented in rust red, pale green, straw and ecru. Openwork vases are diagonally set in the corners. The gently abrashed rust-red border shows two types of reversing, alternating petal palmettes. The drawing is still chunky and somewhat broken, indicative of a village piece woven without a knot-for-knot detailed cartoon as is the practice with city carpets. A piece of this large size is almost surely a special bespoke order and not an off-the-peg speculative creation.