Abby Persian Sultanabad Ivory Gold Hand Knotted Wool Carpet 3' X 5'

By the late 1800s, the looms of Sultanabad in western Iran had loosened the dense floral repeats of classical Persia into the open ivory grounds and gentle vine work that the Anglo-American collector preferred. Ziegler & Co. of Manchester ran a buying office that commissioned weavers to a softer palette of madder, ochre, and indigo, and the design vocabulary that came out of that decade is still the most-copied template in the trade. Abby works from the Sultanabad reference book, in a runner format suited to the contemporary Indian flat.

One weaver worked the upright loom for roughly four months over the 3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) length. Hand-spun wool was knotted by feel against a vertical beam in the Persian asymmetric system. The pile was dyed with madder root, walnut hull, and saffron-toned mineral mordants, each colour matured for a fortnight in copper vats before the wool was lowered. The rug was washed twice after the loom, then sun-dried on a flat bed to set the dye and lock the lustre.

The composition

An ivory ground carries a quiet vine in soft gold, faded rust, and walnut brown, with the curl of leaf and palmette running corner to corner. A single deep guard stripe holds the field rather than the layered border that turns lesser Sultanabads heavy. Over the next ten years the gold lifts toward honey, the rust calms toward rose, and the ivory warms by a half tone into bone. The drift of colour is the slow signature of plant dye.

What you are buying

Antique Sultanabad runners of similar density and 1890-1920 attribution trade at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Rippon Boswell in the $4,000 to $8,000 band when they appear at auction. This is a new weaving in the same tradition, on the same loom, in the same wool, and the rug appreciates with use rather than depreciating against time. No other floor object holds value through age the way a vegetable-dyed Sultanabad does.

The piece in a room

3' x 5' (91 x 152 cm) suits a foyer, the foot of a bed, a reading chair, a pooja room, or a quiet hall between two reception spaces. The ivory and gold ground pairs with walnut, brass, leather, and cool plaster. Soft side light reads the colour shifts best, while harsh overhead spots flatten the abrash.

Conservation

Rotate the runner end for end every six months so light and traffic age it evenly. Vacuum on suction only with the beater bar off. Blot spills with a clean cotton cloth and never rub at the pile. A hand wash by a wool conservator every five years preserves the dye and lustre, and the rug runs seventy years and beyond.

Reference

• Medium: hand-knotted wool on cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 91 x 152 cm (3' x 5')
• Construction: Persian asymmetric knot
• Hands: 1 weaver, ~4 months
• Pile: hand-spun wool
• Dye: vegetable (madder, walnut hull, mineral mordants)
• Origin: India

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