Khorassan

Khorosan, a major Persian cultural center and home to renowned classical poets such as Omar Khayam and Ferdosi is less known as a major weaving center. While there is evidence that there may have been important production in Herat, part of the same region but now on the Afghan side of the border, since at least the late fifteenth century, it is difficult to precisely identify any surviving examples from this early time. During the nineteenth century, Khorasan was known for both its Baluch tribal rugs and urban workshop pieces using a distinctive paired knot virtually unique to the region. This piece is neither. Instead, it makes use of a fundamentally Eastern Persian palette of deep rose and creams more frequently encountered in the eighteenth and nineteenth-century weavings of neighboring Kirman. The rich rose ground is most likely derived from lac or possibly cochineal. The all-over paisley or “boteh” design is a favorite motif borrowed from Persian textile patterns of the time and speaks to the proximity of this area with the Indian cultural sphere. An inscription in Farsi is present in the center of the top border.