Superior Ferahan Sarouk 1880
Ferahan Sarouk, GREAT ARTISTRY 1880
8 feet 5 inches x 4 feet 2 inches
Acquired from a Swedish collector
Ferahan Sarouk carpets produced around the wider Arak (city) area from about 1850-1910 earned a deserved reputation as amongst the most desirable and imaginative finely woven carpets in Persia. As these things go, they morphed in style around 1910- 1920 into the differently woven Mahajirhan Sarouk fashion (quality examples of which are also in demand) and then disappeared entirely.
Their desirability rests not only on fine weaving, and excellent wool. Many of the better examples were commissioned by aristocrats or wealthy merchants who encouraged new approaches and creativity, one source of their excellence.
Beyond this lay a more fundamental and seemingly contradictory set of motivations by the weavers. At one and the same time they sought to emulate the great court carpets in finesse and design, and yet-- they applied rustic or village, and even tribal elements and nuances to their designs. The result was a cavalcade of creativity.
So, a village-based genre came into being which produced primarily an approx. 6x4 rug size format, and also provided, if more rarely, larger formats, which command increasingly high prices, due to their rarity, visual excitement and grandeur.
The artistic achievement of this “school” had to do with marrying elegance and a degree of formalism with whimsy, and design innovation. They offer a charm and a certain magic beyond that of court and most city carpets.
As in any area or era, there is a quality spectrum ranging from mediocre to highly superior. Superiority is judged of course as to weave and wool quality. It is rather unusual, though, to encounter pieces made before 1890 -which are bona fide Ferahan Sarouks- with poor wool or weaving: standards were upheld during this period, and natural dyes employed universally.
Thus, as an investment collectible to adorn the home we believe the ultimate criterion is aesthetics, this being an art form, after all.
Ferahan Sarouks have been a special area of interest for us over the decades both from artistic and investment perspectives.
Allowing for personal taste, our suggestions are few and simple. A Ferahan Sarouk ought to display a wide colour palette, fine and creative drawing and delicate, sometimes “intense “detail. The finest pieces also display balance in the use of space.
We have seen many finely woven pieces which in our view are garish and lack one of the two key artistic elements intrinsic to the better examples of this genre – elegance. Sometimes they are overly cluttered; the drawing artistry is muddled or lost. In other cases odd and ineffective design devices are used, detracting from or interfering with an otherwise good design. The era of the Ferahan Sarouk was rife with experiment, not all of them successful.
The other important attribute, when it can be found, is original artistic creativity, even serendipity, -- or effective design innovation within the compass of this rug type and the unique standards of its prime period.
On average, we examine between 20-30 antique Ferahan Sarouks to achieve one acquisition, for the benefit of our clients.
This fine piece, from a Swedish collector, is an innovatively drawn and graceful example. The formal center medallion is exacting and offers a refined use of abrash (deliberate bands of slightly lighter coloured wool used to highlight design features). Let the eye follow the lower medallion outline, and you will see a surprising integration of blue into a celadon green, great attention to detailed styling and weaving.
The outer field in ivory provides a fine contrast: it gives a picture of flowers sprouting and the drift of falling leaves and its borders are free and moving, as if they were hanging vines, in a carefully modulated red, which has mellowed nicely.
There are four distinct blues across this creation – a vigorous sky blue is used sparingly in the outer field along with a royal blue. The reserve, also showing fine abrash, descends from indigo to a near black toward the bottom. A light yellow reflects in the border, in several subltle shades.
The use of sky blue in the border is unusual and works harmoniously with the composition as a whole. The border is offset by deep yellow palmettes, here whimsically moving away from stern formalism, with the use of two ornaments in a repeat of the celadon green –though these are darkened at the top.
The most common corner devices are rectilinear in Ferahan Sarouks, but here we find this ornament transformed into 4 floating circular orbs, which “move” in the spirit of the total composition. They are large flowers blooming, they feel organic, and delightfully, contain a pale rose colour along with the rich burgundy, delicately used in the medallion.
If you compare the middle edges of the medallion carefully you will find minute variations. These attest to the village/ small loom /handmade qualities of the rug.
This is a singular carpet, a most originally designed Ferahan Sarouk, which like all good Persian pieces promsies endless viewing enjoyment, in excellent condition.
Looking carefully at fine carpets makes us use our eyes and helps us see anew.
$11,800
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