582. a transcendent Afshari tribal Persian rug

582. Provenance: Afshari tribes,  Kerman/Yadz area, Central Persia

Size: 193 x 163 cm

Age: Circa 1910

Condition: Good, with just minor spots of wear and very minor losses at one end (barely noticeable).

Notes: What stands out in this rug is the lovely quality of the handspun wool, but also the beautiful and vibrant shades of indigo used within the field triangles. Especially wonderful is the lively lighter blue used in the central diamond. The variety of shades turn, what could have been quite a stern piece, into a shimmering and vital one. The overall hues are typically Afshari, though the design displays the idiosyncratic individuality also typical of the weaving group - they are the widest range of designs of perhaps any tribal weaving group. The Afsharis are one of the great autonomous peoples of Persia, their ancestors coming south from the north of the country. Historians are unsure of the reason for their expulsion from the north, but they are known to have arrived in the Kerman/Yadz area in the 17th century. Their origins are also a source of controversy - some say the Caucasus, while others claim Azerbaijan or even the eastern Anatolian region of Kars.