3'9" x 6'2" Persian Isfahan Rug | Signed Naghsh Band | Ivory Twin Vase Design with Songbirds | Silk and Wool on Silk
Forty years after it left the loom, this 3'9" x 6'2" Persian Isfahan rug still looks as if it was finished yesterday. The colors are clear, the pile is full and the silk still flashes when the light moves across it. That silk is the first thing you notice: there is an unusually high amount of it in the pile, worked together with fine wool on a pure silk foundation, so the whole surface has a soft glow. The design is a garden in miniature, with a vase at each end, a butterfly medallion at the center and songbirds in every corner of the ivory field. A woven cartouche at one end reads "Iran Isfahan Naghsh Band". It is in excellent condition, a true collector's piece, and it comes with our certificate of authenticity.
Design and Motifs
The field is built along a single vertical line. At one end stands a navy vase with sky blue handles and an olive heart, sending up a slender palmette between 2 long-tailed birds that perch below it on curling vines. At the other end, an olive green vase with a crosshatched lid opens into a burst of lavender blossoms, flanked by blue-winged birds in flight. Between them sits the medallion: a lobed taupe shape outlined in navy and sky blue, holding 2 pairs of birds that face a sky blue butterfly at the very center, surrounded by tiny white, yellow and lavender flowers. Around this axis, 4 great sweeping fronds of brown, sky blue and sage acanthus curl outward like feathers, and the ivory ground between them is filled with Shah Abbasi palmettes, lavender blossom clusters, burgundy buds and more songbirds, all mirrored with precision. The main border has a taupe ground, where ivory arabesque scrolls link lavender and olive lotus palmettes with small star flowers. Navy guard stripes with ivory scrolls frame it on both sides, edged by narrow lavender bands, and the signature cartouche is woven into the border at one end.
The Colors: Ivory, Taupe and Sky Blue
The ivory field is soft and creamy, warm rather than white, and it gives the rug a light, calm presence. The main border is a refined taupe, a grey-brown that frames the ivory gently instead of boxing it in, and the same tone fills the center medallion. Sky blue is the brightest voice in the palette: it runs through the acanthus fronds, the vase handles, the birds' wings and the butterfly, and because so much of the pile is silk, those blues have a real shimmer. Navy, close to midnight, outlines the drawing and fills the first vase and both guard stripes. Lavender and periwinkle soften the blossom clusters and the border palmettes. Olive and sage green bring in the leaves and the second vase, while chocolate brown, camel and a touch of burgundy add warmth to the fronds and buds. Small flashes of butter yellow light up the medallion birds. The fringe is the natural ivory of the silk foundation.
A Signed Isfahan with Exceptional Silk Content
Isfahan, in central Persia, has led Persian weaving in refinement since the Safavid court workshops of the 16th century, and its finest pieces are still woven on silk warps. A silk foundation lets the weaver pack the knots tightly, keeps the rug flat and square, and makes drawing this delicate possible: the birds have feathers, the butterfly has patterned wings, and the acanthus fronds curl without a single stepped edge. Most fine Isfahans use silk only for highlights. Here the share of silk in the pile is unusually high, which gives the rug its luster and puts it among the most luxurious wool and silk Persian rugs you can find in this size. The woven Naghsh Band signature puts a workshop name on that achievement. About 40 years old and in excellent condition, it is equally at home on a bedroom or study floor or hung on a wall, where its detail can be seen up close.
