Gabbeh

[Alex Vargas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex Vargas]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and I'm a little embarrassed about it, there's so much knowledge here. A couple of years ago, I moved to the mountains near the Pyrenees. I live in a house so cold that I thought it would be a good idea to cover the entire floor with rugs. In doing so, I became a rug enthusiast and, I confess, a bit of an addict.

I work as an artisan in a different field, not related to weaving, but I truly appreciate and respect craftsmanship, especially the old traditional arts.

My first rug was a small, cute gabbeh with a very high pile. Later on, I discovered it was made in India, which is totally fine, but from that moment, I wanted the real deal: a Luri or Qashqai gabbeh. And I think I may have found one.

I bought this rug from an old man who was selling things from his family, a wealthy one from central Spain. He told me the rug had been bought by his grandmother as an antique, probably in the 1920s. So, it might date back to the 19th century. Luri? Qashqai? I’m not sure—but I absolutely love the colors in the field. I can almost feel the desert!

The rug measures 187 x 126 cm. It has some old repairs. I had one of the sides repaired, one of the threads that ties the fringes was missing, and it was professionally cleaned at an Iranian rug shop, although they couldn’t remove a green stain that bothers me a bit.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could share any information that might help me figure out its origin. Thanks !

[Alex Vargas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex Vargas]

Hi everyone, and apologies — the other day I got the rug’s measurements wrong. It’s actually 225 x 133 cm. I wasn’t at home and trying to do three things at once...

I’ve been looking at the rug again, and the more I do, the more it seems to have to say. I wanted to share a few more thoughts with you.

Starting with the orange colour. I know this shade often raises doubts, since it's frequently linked to synthetic dyes. But in this case, it doesn't feel that way to me. It doesn’t look flat or chemical, and that makes me think it could be a natural dye. Plus, the wear seems organic — there’s none of the artificial shine that synthetic colours sometimes have.




There’s also quite a bit of colour variation throughout the rug. The triangles along the outer border aren’t all the same shade; there are subtle shifts from one to the next. The same goes for the central field, where the orange background isn’t completely uniform. This chromatic irregularity appears across the whole rug, and I find it really interesting.

Combined with the warm tones and the shape of the triangles — a feature typical of Qashqai or Luri rugs, and a reference to the Zagros mountains where these groups live — this makes me see the rug as a kind of landscape. To me, it looks like a sunset in the Zagros mountains. I’ve added a couple of photos from the region that I think help illustrate the idea.




And then there’s the red line running across the central field. It’s a simple detail, but it stands out. I’ve read that in some gabbeh rugs this kind of feature is called a gabbeh whisper, though I don’t know how widely used the term is. Still, it caught my attention.



What do you think about the orange? Could it be natural?
And have you ever heard the term gabbeh whisper?

Lately, another question has been on my mind, one I’m not quite ready to answer yet: why did the Luri and Qashqai, known for their brightly coloured rugs, start making pieces like this one — almost blending into the landscape? Were they trying to hide? Has this topic been discussed in the forum?
I’d say if you're out in the middle of the desert with a brightly coloured rug, you’ll be seen from kilometres away — and you'll be an easy target.

Regards !

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Alex,

The colour on the field on your rug is sometimes known as 'salt and pepper', and it is not uncommon on Qashqa'i gabbehs. And as to the nature of the orange - that's a perennial question about South Persian pieces, on which it occurs very frequently!

John

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Here is one quite like your own. It was made very recently, and is currently for sale.




John

[Alex Vargas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex Vargas]

Hi John,
Thanks for your input, really nice to see someone joining the thread !
I noticed the "salt and pepper" design too, and I found that it can also be seen in Luri rugs as well. I guess it became somewhat popular at certain point among Fars nomads.
But why exactly? That’s the part I find most intriguing.

About the rug you posted: to me, the dyes — especially that shiny brown/orange — look synthetic, and you can see some fading in spots.
The selvedges aren’t really what you’d expect from an antique tribal rug, and the foundation looks like it might be cotton, which wasn’t common in tribal weaving.
Also, it’s a bit unusual to see a runner size coming from nomadic Fars weavers — not exactly the kind of format they'd use in tents.



The rug itself shows very little variation — just a bit in the field, and that’s about it.
The rug I posted, on the other hand, has noticeable variations in the colors of the field that match the fading of the orange, suggesting they were done on purpose.
There are also variations in the colors of the trefoil border and the triangle border, and even the trefoils themselves have different shapes.
So with all that in mind, I believe the rug you posted is a modern copy, probably made in a village workshop, by the way, the rug was already sold

Regards

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Alex,

Your assessment is doubtless correct; the rug is probably from Fars and older than the one I illustrated - although I'm not sure that 'copy' is the right word to describe the latter. As you doubtless know, few gabbehs are of great age, and many of them, even those considered to be of good quality, are only a handful of decades old; many, if not most, were made for sale. With regard to the source and inspiration of the 'salt and pepper' design, such things lie in the realms of speculation, like so much in the rug world. The weavers' connection with the original symbolism of the rugs' motifs, including 'salt and pepper' fields, is distant at best. Helmut Reinisch, in one of his books about the Bornet collection of gabbehs, writes briefly about the 'salt and pepper' technique, but doesn't discuss anything else about it. You probably know those books, and the one by Parviz Tanavoli? If not, they're well worth reading and looking at.

Incidentally, I share your enthusiasm for these vibrant weavings!

All the best,

John

[Alex Vargas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex Vargas]

No worries at all, and I apologise if "copy" sounded disrespectful —it wasn’t my intention. I just meant that, in my view, the rug you shared was made for commercial purposes in a workshop, rather than being woven by nomads for their own personal use.
(By the way, in my collection I also have a Chinese rug from the 1980s, a "copy" of an Esfahan floral design, and I truly consider it a work of art —I treasure it deeply!)

Yes, I do know the books by Reinisch and Tanavoli, and I was planning to buy them —partly because I was curious whether they mentioned any reasons for the shift from colourful designs to more subdued or even aggressive ones. It’s a pity they don’t go into that in much detail, but thank you very much for the tip —I’ll definitely try to get them anyway.

That said, I personally feel there must be some motivation behind this shift.
I hope you don’t mind me sharing a bit of speculation —after all, that's part of the fun of exchanging ideas here!

Imagine you have a good friend who always dresses in colourful, cheerful clothes with motifs of flowers, people dancing, smiling animals…
Then one day you see this friend wearing grey, dull colours, maybe even aggressive imagery.
Wouldn’t you immediately wonder if something had happened to him?

To me, something similar could apply to the nomadic tribes.
For generations they wove lively, vibrant designs —and then suddenly, a change: subdued colours, stark contrasts, sometimes harsh, almost camouflaged patterns.


Could this have been an instinctive reaction of protection?
Both humans and animals, when sensing danger, tend either to camouflage themselves or display warning signs.
Maybe something similar pushed the Qashqai and Luri weavers to create these pieces.

Alternatively, it could also reflect periods of hardship, where access to dyes and materials was more difficult.

When you read about the history of the nomadic tribes of Fars, you realise how much they suffered in the last centuries —endless migrations, political pressure, wars...
It made me wonder: could we possibly cross-reference historical periods of instability or persecution with the colour usage and design changes in old rugs?
Maybe there’s a correlation to be found.

Perhaps it would even be worth opening a dedicated thread to develop this idea —even if it’s just a bit of a crazy theory, it could lead to a fun discussion.

I'm very happy to see you share the same enthusiasm for these wonderful weavings, John !

Regards,
Alex

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Alex -

It's an intriguing idea, but you've chosen to illustrate the point with two extreme examples! Perhaps you should open the new thread and see if people come up with some fresh thoughts. As you suggest, though, it seems to me quite possible that the first 'salt and pepper' fields were making reference to the landscape.

All the best,

John

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi,

I haven't said much yet, but I'll toss in my two cents worth. There are a vew different "genres" of gabbehs, the most inscrutable being the actual reaql, nomadic, made-for-personal-use type. This, because therr are so few that are actually well documented, and most of those that are have quite bright palettes. Most of those, although quite furry looking, are actually rather thin compared to those from the 2nd half of the 20th century, almost all of which were made for the commercial market.

There is one type, referred to as Shuli, that came into the market in the 1960's and have very muted palettes mostly gray, ivory, and medium brown. They typically have no bright colors. Yours could be a Shuli. The larger volume of gabbehs came from the efforts of Zollanvari and Opie (and their imitators), who resurrected vegetable dyes and have produced thousands of really attractive carpets.

To me, the very faded orange and the DayGlo pink on Alex's piece suggest a similar 1960s-to 1970s timeframe, and a village or nomadic weaving setting with limited access to properly dyed wool, but with access to commercial hanks of yarn in very bright colors.. Ditto for the brown and ivory selvage, more commonly seen on Luri than Qashqai work, which in older pieces is usually red and ivory and often, red wefts. Still, the Shuli rugs have this feature.

We own several recent gabbehs and like every one of them.

Regards
Chuck

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

An old Turkotek discussion on Luri gabbehs, including another comment on Shuli rugs from Chuck Wagner:

http://turkotek.com/salon_00097/s97t4.htm

All the best,

John

[Alex Vargas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex Vargas]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for your kind contributions — I really appreciate the help and the interest this thread has received. I think I may have said too much too soon, and I probably need a bit more time to study the rug carefully. Hopefully I’ll be back soon with some fresh news or insights!

Chuck, thank you as well for your input — but I’m not sure how the rug could have been made in the 60s or 70s, considering that the seller told me it was already purchased from an antiques shop in the 1920s. That said, I wouldn’t dare disagree too strongly with the forum admin... I don’t want to be banned for life ! Just kidding of course.

Regards,
Alex

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi Alex,

Those are just my observations based on personal experience and exposure to other goods. Synthetic dyes came into heavy use in the 1860's-1870s and in the early 20th century they were widespread among the nomadic Persian tribes. That faded orange is very likely a synthetic, so your family knowledge of the age of the piece could be correct. I haven't personally seen an old gabbeh with that salt & pepper look, which is an intentional effect usually achieved by plying dark and ivory wool into a single yarn. But the wool all looks handspun. The mixed brown and ivory warps are very typical of Khamseh pile rugs, so that's an option as well.

Regards
Chuck

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Alex -

I thought you might be interested in seeing this rug, which I've had for quite a while. The experienced dealer from whom I bought it said that he believed it was a Khamseh piece, because in his view it was neither Qashqa'i nor Luri. There are few gabbehs that can be definitely attributed to the Khamseh. It's not unlike more conventional pieces from Shiraz, but its rustic quality, plus the curious homespun repairs (perhaps something to do with averting the 'evil eye'?) suggest that it tribal and nomadic. Another example of evocative ambiguity! It has some age, with a vivid orange and another dye that has faded down to grey.







All the best,

John

[Steve Wallace Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Wallace]

I thought I'd put up my 'salt and pepper' gabbeh for interest. I bought it sometime around the mid-1980s for my mum. I reckon it was new - it had wool around each end's borders to prevent wasting away, which didn't work terribly well. It had a bit of a tough life at my mum's and has various small losses and bits of wear.

Anyway, here it is. It's about 187 x 137 cm.

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

John and Steve, nice examples!

for the faded grey, look for any signs of purple on the back or at the knots on the front. Purple fades into grey.