Provenance: Qum

Qum (also Ghom or Qom), south of Tehran, is today the leading centre of Persian silk weaving. Its workshops only began in the early 20th century and drew freely on the whole repertoire of classical Persian design. In this piece, pile, warp and weft are all silk; only the fine, smooth silk threads allow drawing this detailed — the riders’ faces, the horses’ bridles, single petals.

Design: The Hunt — Shekargah

Hunting rugs, shekargah in Persian, go back to the court art of the Safavid period in the 16th century, when carpets, miniatures and murals showed the hunt as a symbol of courage and princely life. On the ivory field, six riders in colourful robes are on the hunt: one draws his bow, two swing their swords, one casts a lasso. Gazelles, deer and hares leap between flowering trees in pink and red. The broad golden-ochre main border continues the scene with pheasants, cranes, deer and blossoming branches; in it and in the olive-green inner border sit light cartouches with Persian verses in calligraphy, linking the rug to the tradition of Persian book art.

Quality

Knotted at approximately 900,000 to 1,000,000 knots per square metre, roughly 580–645 kpsi, in 100% silk on a silk foundation, with a short pile of about 5 mm. The sheen of the silk shifts the colours with the angle of view and the light.

Presence in the Room

At 155 × 107 cm (5.1 × 3.5 ft, 1.66 m²) this is a piece to be looked at:

• Wall hanging: as a picture with a clear reading direction, above a sofa, a chest of drawers or in a stairwell.
• Living room: in a low-traffic spot in front of an armchair or in a reading corner, see our living room rugs.
• Study or library: where the scene can be seen in full.

More pieces: small area rugs and our Persian rugs.

Specifications

Responsible Origin · Label STEP

Djoharian is a certified partner of Label STEP, the international fair-trade organisation for hand-knotted rugs — fair pay for the weavers and no child labour.

Djoharian — Since 1967

Our family business was founded in 1967, with roots in the Grand Carpet Bazaar of Tehran — five decades of trade and connoisseurship behind every piece we offer.

Service and Care

Every piece is inspected in our atelier in Lohr am Main before dispatch. Silk should be vacuumed dry only, without a brush; for cleaning we offer our own professional rug cleaning service. Secure and fast worldwide shipping, fully insured, with personal consultation in our showroom or by video call.