Berkshires - Persian Rugs

Tribal Style Runner in tones of navy, green, and brown.

Keywords: rug, carpet

Ziegler Rugs of Arak - In 1883, Ziegler and Co., of Manchester, England, established a Persian carpet manufacture in Sultanabad (now Arak), Iran, employing designers from major Western department stores, like B. Altman and Liberty of London, to modify fanciful 16th- and 17th-century Eastern designs for the more restrained Western taste. Using highly developed dying techniques (which Ziegler futilely attempted to copyright) and the best artisans from the region, Ziegler created rugs with bold, allover patterns and with softer palettes than their vibrant Persian counterparts. Ziegler rugs developed an almost immediate following, especially among newly monied Western industrialists; early collectors included the Guinness family, the owners of the stout-beer manufacture, who laid them in Elveden Hall...