625 - Senneh oriental rug, Iran, red stepped medallion on dark blue Herati field, wool on cotton

Senneh oriental rug, Iran, red stepped medallion on dark blue Herati field, wool on cotton Wool on cotton, oriental rug, Senneh (Sanandaj, Iran). Dark blue field with small-scale Herati pattern, featuring a red stepped central medallion with an ivory stepped lozenge at the centre and two dark blue lozenge pendants with arrow-shaped ends. Red main border with blue leaf motifs and ivory rosettes, flanked on both sides by narrow guard borders. Fringes partly damaged and cut. 159x117 cm (LxW). Senneh is the older name of the city of Sanandaj in the Iranian province of Kurdistan, the cultural centre of the Iranian Kurds in the west of the country. Rugs from Senneh are known for their fine knotting and closely clipped pile and were valued internationally as early as the 18th and 19th century. The Herati pattern, a small-scale repeat of rosettes and leaf forms, is characteristic of the Persian rugs from Senneh. Dark blue and wine red are among the preferred ground colours of the region.