A Ziegler Sultanabad carpet,

Persia, circa 1890.

12ft 2in x 11ft : 370cm x 336cm
 

In 1876, the Manchester-based Swiss firm of Ziegler and Co., became the first European concern to establish their own looms in Sultanabad, Persia, for the production of carpets specifically to the Western markets.

The designs used were mainly repeated all-over patterns, though Ziegler used principles of architectural proportions to make the motifs much larger and incorporated wide borders, thus keeping a balance with the scale of a room.

The present carpet comes from the area around Sarough where Ziegler also had looms, these are of finer weave and more sturdy in structure. The bold design for this carpet, with enlarged palmettes, Cyprus trees, sickle leaves and connecting stems, upon a rare blue background are exaggerated in scale which is the attraction, the design probably used for a carpet twice the size, but here the format has been made as a near square. Of additional note is the exceptionally beautiful border of rare brick tones and retaining original ends.