Ivory Vintage Persian Gabbeh Animal Figure Rug, Country of Origin: Persia, Circa Date: Vintage – Six rows of small four-legged animal figures cross a pale undyed ground. Each is blocked out in a handful of knots in gold, black, brick red, orange. They walk in the same direction, more or less, and no two are drawn quite alike. One row sits on a broad brown band while the rest stand on open cream.
The ground is doing something the figures are not. Wide horizontal drifts of taupe and tan move through the ivory, allowing for movement in negative space. Providing a welcome contrast, the animals read as deliberately still. What kind they are is not recorded, and the drawing is too spare to say.
At 2 ft 10 in by 4 ft 10 in it is among the small rugs, and it wants to be met at a few feet rather than seen across a room, as each animal is only a handful of knots wide. The herd can be redrawn at any size as a custom rug.
