Isfahan Rugs

Sepahan, Esfahan, Hispahan Carpet

The name of these rugs comes from the city where they're from, Isfahan in central Iran.

Isfahan is known for its beauty. The city, with its magnificent buildings and architectural wonders, never fails to astound. Today, it is a thriving industrial city with over a million people, known for its handmade carpets. It's no surprise that Persian rugs from Isfahan are of exceptional quality and craftsmanship. The finest threads of wool and/or wool and silk are woven into beautiful patterns and these elegant rugs may transform a space into a show-stopping area.

Isfahan, Persia's former capital city, is always worth a trip. With its many mosques, including the famed Emam Mosque, and various palaces, it was the country's most beautiful place. In this context, the Persian proverb Isfahan nesf-e jahan - "Isfahan is half the globe" makes sense.

Vase, garden, tree of life patterns, Shah Abbasi themes and pictorial pieces are prominent design elements and motifs. Traditional themes and patterns, nature, poetry, and the city's rich architectural history (with the famed mosque of Shah Lutf Allah serving as a unique muse for many of the carpets), serve as inspiration for the rugs' design.

The most common pattern is a central medallion encircled by red, blue or indigo vines or flowers on an ivory backdrop.

Isfahan rugs are exceptional, with a neatly woven pile and soft kork wool (sometimes with silk details or silk warps and wefts).

Few other cities have such a high concentration of skilled weavers who make some of the world's finest hand knotted carpets. Isfahan carpets are of exceptionally high quality, with knotting densities of up to 650,000 knots per square metre, making them among the most sophisticated of all. Isfahan is home to world-renowned Persian carpet knotters; Seifarian, Entescharf, and Davari are only a few of them. In addition, there are a large number of carpet manufacturers. Carpet vendors line the great city streets, which are frequented not only by tourists but also by locals.

Isfahan was historically a significant weaving and cultural centre, reaching its pinnacle as the capital of Shah Abbas, the great patron of the arts in the 16th century, dubbed "Persian Weaving's Golden Age." Isfahan has historically produced antique carpets of remarkable technical skill and exquisite aesthetics, except Afghan dominance in the early 1700s.

Rug production in Isfahan has been halted on multiple occasions, primarily owing to military occupation and invasion. Isfahan, also spelt and pronounced Sepahan, Esfahan, or Hispahan, reached its pinnacle under the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736), particularly under Shab Abbas' leadership of the rebirth of art throughout Persia, centred around the cultural metropolis.