Antique Khana Gallery

"A PERSIAN BOTEH RUNNER, WEST PERSIA — HAMDAN/SARABAND REGION, KURDISH VILLAGE WEAVE "

Iran

1900s

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This is a hand-knotted wool runner in the classic boteh (paisley) repeat, one of the most enduring and symbolically rich patterns in Persian weaving. Rows of stacked boteh — the teardrop-shaped motif said to represent a bent cypress, a symbol of resilience and eternal life in Zoroastrian and later Persian iconography — march down a deep indigo field in tightly packed columns, each boteh individually rendered with its own internal florette and jagged, feathered outline. The field is framed by a serrated indigo cartouche, a stepped, lightning-bolt border that isolates the central medallion column from the surrounding spandrels of moss-green ground, scattered with small polychrome rosettes and star-flowers in coral, ivory, powder blue, and plum — a device typical of the herati-derived floral fillers used by weavers in the greater Hamadan/Malayer/Saraband weaving belt of west-central Iran. The main border is a rich madder red, carrying a meandering vine (an ""in-and-out"" palmette lattice) punctuated by small stylized animal or bird forms rendered in near-silhouette — a rustic, folkloric touch that points toward a village or semi-nomadic Kurdish workshop rather than an urban court manufactory. This is flanked by narrow guard stripes of rosette-and-lattice work in indigo and rust, a hallmark of the region's border architecture. Materials & construction: hand-spun wool pile on a wool foundation, finished with ivory weft-fringe at both ends — consistent with tribal and village production of the Hamadan-Saraband axis, likely mid 20th century based on the wool handle, the saturation of the natural-style dye palette."

Details

Inventory Code: 3716
Category: Carpets
Material: N/A
Origin: Iran
Period: 1900s
Dimensions: 300x 200 cm
Condition: Excellent cosmetic condition with minimal wear commensurate with age