Vintage Bakhtiari Rug — Cypress Trees & Ruby Red | 10'6" × 13'1"

The mountainous province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari in southwestern Iran has a rich, longstanding tradition of carpet production and export. Carpet weaving is its most widespread traditional art, practised in villages, nomadic communities and most of the province's towns. Chaleshtor, Shalamzar, Borujen and Shahrekord are particularly important among the region's weaving centres.

The kheshti, or panel, design belongs to the family of repeating patterns. The rug's field is divided into a grid of geometric shapes, such as squares, diamonds and hexagons, with Persian motifs depicted within each compartment. In Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari rugs, these panels are generally arranged in one of two ways.

Tak-khesht, or individual-panel design: every panel contains a unique motif.

Symmetrical kheshti design: the panel motifs repeat according to a particular pattern.

At first glance, the many compartments of a kheshti rug, filled with colourful, interwoven motifs, may seem busy or even disorderly. Yet specialists' visual analyses describe an underlying order capable of surprising the viewer. According to this research, most kheshti rugs, particularly those woven in Bakhtiari areas, are designed and woven according to nine principles attributed to the American cultural theorist and art historian Charles Jencks. These principles describe the qualities an artwork needs for visual vitality: 1. proportion; 2. contrast; 3. balance; 4. harmony; 5. variety; 6. rhythm; 7. variety in rhythm; 8. movement; and 9. a dominant focal point.

Bakhtiari carpets are now internationally registered through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The particular lac red (laki) and distinctive green of Bakhtiari rugs are among the province's most characteristic carpet colours, setting them apart from similar colours in other Persian rugs. The principal colours used in these carpets are red, light blue, deep blue, green, orange and yellow.

In the past, Bakhtiari nomadic women gathered and dried dye-bearing plants at particular times of year or during their annual migrations. Drawing on their knowledge of the plants' colouring properties, they boiled them in water to extract the dye, then used the resulting liquid with sour pomegranate juice as a mordant to obtain lasting colours. Unfortunately, these colourfast plant dyes have now given way to bright but less stable synthetic dyes.

This beautiful Bakhtiari rug has a qab-qabi, or framed-panel, design arranged in a lengthwise half-repeat composition, with the panels mirrored along the rug's length.

A closer look reveals two layers of panels. The upper layer combines a vase with an abstract islimi arabesque motif that sets each compartment apart from the surrounding elements. These motifs alternate along both the length and width of the design, and each panel has a different background colour. The other layer sits between these compartments, with a consistent background colour and nearly identical motifs. Through this deliberate use of colour, the designer gives the rug a three-dimensional effect.

As in many Bakhtiari rugs, this piece expresses meanings customary in the region: the willow represents humility and modesty; the cypress, eternal life; the vases, the protection of nature; and the pomegranate tree, birth and fertility.

The border beautifully combines two contrasting grounds, creating a crenellated outline reminiscent of a shabestan, or covered hall, surrounding a garden. It encloses the field as though enclosing a garden filled with intricate ornament.

Judging by its colours and panel arrangement, this rug was made around 60 years ago.

• Age: Mid-20th century
• Origin: Bakhtiari, Persia
• Material: Hand-knotted wool pile on a cotton foundation
• Dimensions: 10' 6" x 13' 1" (approximately 320 x 399 cm)