About Us

We are a small family-run business, sourcing the very finest rugs from all over Iran. The web site can only display a small proportion of our wares.

If you have a specific size/colour or style of rug in mind, please do contact us, specifying your requirements, and we will e mail you a selection for your perusal.

Alternatively, if you'd like to browse the whole collection, we have a large showroom, where you are welcome to visit, any time between 9-5 Mon-Sat (Sundays by prior appointment only). We would be delighted to show you around, with absolutely no obligation to buy, and answer any, and all questions you may have.

History of Persian Carpets

In the Mongol period of the 14th Century these carpets had developed into an art form, gracing the floors of many magnificent palaces.

During the Safavid period from 1501 to 1732 the tradition of weaving being passed down through families began to change. The weaver had been both artist and designer. With trade routes along the silk road opening up, the Safavids saw opportunities to sell to the passing caravans. Miniature paintings showed these rugs as works of art, and traditional patterns began to emerge. Cities along the trade routes developed their own styles, and began to trade.

By the late 15th century rug designs developed. Large formal medallions surrounded by flowers and vines, gave the carpets a beguiling harmony and rhythm. These complex designs needed to be formalised, and these large 'card' instructions became known as a ‘cartoons', to enable weavers to follow them (pictured below). The miniature painters began to design carpets they wanted to appear in their paintings, and this in turn lead to formal schools. The original weavers were relegated to being craftsmen, not the designers they used to be. In the large cities, such as Tabriz, Kerman, and Isfahan, weavers lost their creative input, but this was not so in the small villages, where tribespeople continued to produce their own unique and colourful masterpieces.