626 - 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. Used condition commensurate with age, fringes cut, partly damaged, corners worn. 160x119 cm (LxW). Sanandaj, formerly Senneh, lies in the province of Kurdistan in western Iran. Senneh rugs are finely knotted with 150,000 to 400,000 knots per square metre, so that even small-scale motifs appear sharply drawn. The Herati pattern with its rosettes and leaf forms, together with multiple narrow borders, is regarded as a hallmark of these Kurdish rugs. Their reputation as fine Persian weavings goes back to the 18th and 19th century.