Beautiful Room Size Antique Persian Serapi Rug
Room Size Antique Persian Serapi Rug – Here at Nazmiyal Collection, we sell the very finest antique Oriental rugs anywhere. This antique Serapi rug made in Northwestern Persia in the latter years of the nineteenth century, is a truly phenomenal piece that embodies many of the characteristics that separate antique Persian rugs — which are veritable and enduring works of art — from the sort of machine-made, mass-produced rugs that are made today.
Historically, the Northwestern region of Persia has been one of the most important rug producing centers in the world. Renowned by antique carpet experts and rug collectors for the quality of their construction, their fascinating and beautiful geometric designs, and their vibrant color palette, rugs from this region are highly desirable and highly sought after the world over. Because of the terrain of Northwestern Persia – which is mountainous with many deep valleys – the myriad communities that thrived there each developed distinct ways of producing rugs with unique and recognizable stylistic differences. Bakshaish rugs, Heriz rugs, and Serapi rugs all developed in this region, each of which is distinct from the other.
This piece is an antique Serapi rug, woven in the Northwestern Persian village of Serab during the latter years of the nineteenth century. Rugs woven in this area are often considered to be among the best and most desirable pieces from the entire region, and are generally characterized by strongly depressed Turkish rug knots, rectilinear patterns, and angular interpretations of traditional Persian rug designs and patterns. This piece in particular features a gorgeous, monumental medallion – an element present in many Persian antique Heriz Serapi Bakshaish rugs, which may also feature floral rug motifs as well as rectilinear interpretations of traditional arabesques.
This beautiful antique rug also boasts the lovely color palette that is so admired in Serapi rugs, featuring soft blues, pale greens, salmons, reds, and a cool ivory, all of which work together to create a soothing and exciting composition. Intriguingly, the corner-pieces of this rug utilize the same colors as the large central medallion but with the roles reversed: the more prominent tones of the rug’s central medallion constitute the accent of the corner-pieces, while the more prominent colors of the corner-pieces are those that function as accent colors in the medallion. The effect is a sense of harmony and continuity that is gorgeous to behold.
Overall, this is a fantastic room size rug that embodies many of the most desirable characteristics of antique Serapi rugs. Its beautiful coloration and design as well as its impeccable craftsmanship all work together to make for a piece that is a work of art of the highest order. There is a grace and elegance to this piece that is just as pronounced today as it would have been when it was woven in the nineteenth century – a testament to the enduring quality of fine Serapi rugs.
This lavish antique Persian Serapi has a classic Heriz rug design. A monumental star medallion rendered in soft blue, pale green, and salmon and sprouting lush finials in red hovers within a cool ivory field. Red corner-pieces with arabesque detail reverse the colors of the medallion. A broad pale blue-ground ‘turtle’ border frames the field, enclosed by minor vine-scroll borders, recalling again the palette of the medallion, but with a contrasting, more delicate scale. The drawing has a finesse unusual among Serapis.
