Guide to Sarouk Rugs from Persia

 

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Guide to Sarouk Rugs: Sarouk carpets get their name from an obscure village in Persia, located twenty miles north of Arak (formerly Sultanabad). Over a short span of history, this village produced some of the most highly regarded Persian weavings from the late 19th to early 20th century. These rugs are easily recognizable despite their lack of consistent design elements. Most were room sized with central medallions and generally the wefts were blue. The field colors were cream, indigo or a pale red and floral motif in the field showed multiply shades of orange, green and brown. The short velvet like pile is of excellent quality and wears well.

 

In the same region where Sultanabad carpetsare made, you will also find Feraghan, Feraghan Sarouk, Mohajaran, Sarouk, American Sarouk, and Mushkabad rugs. Although these names are sometimes used interchangeably to describe carpets from this region, there are slight differences between these rugs based on period of production, motifs and pattern, color, thickness and quality. Several are named for the villages and towns that produced them including Feraghan, Sarouk and Mushkabad.

 

Antique Feraghan (Farahan) Sarouks

 

Feraghans were woven in the village of Sarouk but carpets given the name Farahan are of a distinct and exceptional type. These rugs were made over a period of one hundred years beginning in the mid 18th century. They have an asymmetrical knot on a cotton ground; the wefts are dyed blue or occasionally pinkish red. The weave is extremely fine and the many patterns combine both tribal and more traditional designs. They often have a floral border with a soft pale apple or pistachio green ground.

 

Feraghans were made between the 1870s and 1913 from a region north of the town of Arak, produced for the Persian aristocracy. They are single wefted, long and narrow or room-sized carpets, typically with an allover herati design or floral and curling leaf motifs. Feraghans exhibit rich colors, often a red field, deep indigo accents and subtle shades of green. Feraghans are of a finer weave than other types of Sultanabads, with delicately executed motifs.

 

Feraghan-Sarouks, also called Sarouks, are double-wefted, heavier carpets with a higher knot count than village Sultanabads. Fields are often blue or ivory and designs typically feature either large medallions or representations of trees and birds. They were developed in response to Tabriz merchants who were exporting carpets to the West. Designs were supplied to the weavers in the Sultanabad region who had difficulty executing the fine patterns; thus, these carpets tend to be a bit unbalanced and off-kilter. Both Feraghans and Feraghan-Sarouks waned in popularity as the American Sarouk gained prominence.

 

American Sarouks were designed to appeal to the American consumer. Colors, typically burgundy or rose-colored but also blue, were chosen to be compatible with wooden furniture. The motifs are all-over designs of sprays of flowers, vines and leaves more sparsely woven in the field than a traditional Persian carpet. Dyes did not hold up to alkaline washings during manufacture, so the red backgrounds were painted to intensify the color.

 

Today, the area continues to produce good-quality, vegetable-dye carpets in the tradition of Sarouks and Feraghans woven in the region throughout the last two hundred years.