Fine Rare Persian Saruk Pictorial Rug

Pictorial rugs depicting figures are a significant genre of subject matter seen in rugs made during the ‘revival’ of Persian carpet weaving which began in the 1870’s onwards. Images of real or mythological historical figures appeared in rugs predominantly made in the major Persian city centres of rug weaving, namely, though not exclusively include Kerman, Kashan, Tabriz, and Esfahan. Frequent subject matter included Eastern and European rulers and leaders, biblical figures, characters from legend, history, and poetry. Much woven pictorial subject matter is taken from illustrated ancient manuscripts and often presented in a similar style of depiction.

Saruq pictorial rugs are rare, though when seen display magnificent compositions which are finely woven with great clarity. The elements presented in a range of complementary colours from the superb Saruq palette.

The scene here in an upper register shows a King likely to be representative of King Soloman raised aloft by ‘divs’ and supported by a variety of birds including the mythical ‘Simurgh’ bird in a wooded landscape. It appears as though this procession is on route to join the lower register which shows seated figures in conference accompanied by supporters and animals. The theme depicts elements of good and evil emphasised by the swirling Simurgh bird. This magical bird represents longevity, the divine and guardian of nature and is often featured as a symbolic entity in Persian legend and poetry. Divs in Persian folklore tend to be considered as evil entities as indicated in the tenth century Shahnameh, (Book of Kings) by Ferdowsi. They are roughly of human shape and possess supernatural powers. They are generally ugly looking with animal facial features often with horns and scantily clad with spotted flesh. A rather curious feature is that they can be suppressed, and, in some stories, they do the opposite from what they are instructed to do. Despite the contrasting elements this is a peaceful scene, there is no combative behaviour, from any of the figures and indeed from the animals who are shown seated and sudatory. This would indicate the fact that King Soloman had mastery of all animals, birds and demons, and illustrates this in the story told here.

The story is magnificently presented ensuring that the story is easy to read. This is achieved by presenting the brightly coloured elements against a white background. The two-register arrangement also enhances this. The scene in the upper register is open and spacious whereas the lower register whilst still light and airy is more compact with pattern elements. Such an arrangement is an artistic device frequently seen in pictorial rugs of this type. In this Saruq rug this has been expertly executed resulting in an outstanding work of woven art. The border encloses white ground cartouches enclosing nastaliq script, which explains the scene depicted. This script is drawn with amazing clarity and unusually the text is presented over extremely finely drawn scrolling flowering tendrils. Such detail considerably enhances the overall appearance of the composition.

Saruk Rug. This piece was handwoven in Iran. For further information please contact us and our team will be pleased to assist you. All pieces in the collection are under the auspices of Essie Sakhai, one of the world’s foremost experts and collectors of fine handmade Persian rugs and carpets.