High Collectible 19th Century Ferahan Sarouk, Princely, at Short Term Reduction

Qashgai circa 1870-80 Qashgai, UNUSUALLY FINE ANTIQUE TRIBAL PIECE circa 1870 - 1880 3 x 5 ft Acquired from a French dealer The Qashgai Federation...

Ferahan Sarouk, 1870 :GLORIOUS FLOWERS . From a German collector Ferahan Sarouk carpets produced around the wider Arak (formerly Sultanabad) are...

Tabriz Prayer Rug circa 1900 4.1 feet x 5.8 Acquired from an Istanbul dealer A strange mystery exists. Why are the vast majority of prayer rug...

Acquired from a Swedish collector Ferahan Sarouk carpets produced around the wider Arak (city) area from about 1850-1900 earned a deserved reputation as amongst the most desirable and imaginative finely woven carpets in Persia. As these things go, they morphed in style around 1910- 1920 into the differently woven Mahajirhan Sarouk fashion (quality examples of which are also in demand) and then disappeared entirely. Their desirability rests not only on fine weaving, and excellent wool. Many of the better examples were commissioned by aristocrats or wealthy merchants who encouraged new approaches and creativity, one source of their excellence. Beyond this lay a more fundamental and seemingly contradictory set of motivations by the weavers. At one and the same time they sought to emulate the great court carpets in finesse and design, and yet-- they applied rustic or village, and even tribal elements and nuances to their designs. The result was a cavalcade of creativity. So, a village-based genre came into being which produced primarily an approx. 6x4 rug size format, and also provided, if more rarely, larger formats, which command increasingly high prices, due to their rarity, visual excitement and grandeur. The artistic achievement of this “school” had to do with marrying elegance and a degree of formalism with whimsy, and design innovation. They offer a charm and a certain magic beyond that of court and most city carpets. As in any area or era, there is a quality spectrum ranging from mediocre to highly superior. Superiority is judged of course as to weave and wool quality. It is rather unusual, though, to encounter pieces made before 1890 -which are bona fide Ferahan Sarouks- with poor wool or weaving: standards were upheld during this period, and natural dyes employed universally. Thus, as an investment collectible to adorn the home we believe the ultimate criterion is aesthetics, this being an art form, after all. Ferahan Sarouks have been a special area of interest for us over the decades both from artistic and investment perspectives. Allowing for personal taste, our suggestions are few and simple. A Ferahan Sarouk ought to display a wide colour palette, fine and creative drawing and delicate, sometimes “intense “detail. The finest pieces also display balance in the use of space. We have seen many finely woven pieces which in our view are garish and lack one of the two key artistic elements intrinsic to the better examples of this genre – elegance. Sometimes they are overly cluttered; the drawing artistry is muddled or lost. In other cases odd and ineffective design devices are used, detracting from or interfering with an otherwise good design. The era of the Ferahan Sarouk was rife with experiment, not all of them successful. The other important attribute, when it can be found, is original artistic creativity, even serendipity, -- or effective design innovation within the compass of this rug type and the unique standards of its prime period. On average, we examine between 20-30 antique Ferahan Sarouks...

An authentic early 20th century Sarouk Ferahan carpet with classic medallion and border design. Investment-level Ferahan rugs were not produced after the 1910s, and the finer 19th and turn-of-the 20th century examples have become quite rare. The best antique Ferahan rugs...

Antique Ferahan Carpet - Late 19th Century Ferahan Carpet in Good Condition 260 x 344cm (8,53 x 11,28 ft) Ferahan carpets are usually made with the asymmetrical knot on a cotton fou...

Antique Ferahan Rug Late 19th Century Ferahan Rug in Perfect Condition Size 135 x 200 cm (53,1x78,7 In) This elegant late 19th century antique Ferahan carpet will increase the elega...

Extraordinary and rare antique, very fine and very pretty rug by Sarouk Ferahan, with pretty floral designs and pretty natural colors, entirely and very finely hand-knotted in wool v...