Khamseh Carpet
c. 1890
Southwest Iran
Iran
This rug comes from the Khamseh confederation, a grouping of five separate tribes from the Fars region in southern Iran. A classic example, it features large columns of hexagonal compartments full of stylized chickens and other animals. The chickens may hark back to some ancient tribal tradition, but the large size reflects such 19th-century cultural changes as settled communities and commercial production.
Wool, plain weave with supplementary wrapping wefts forming cut pile through a technique known as "Turkish (Ghiordes) knots"