Tabriz medallion carpet
Tabriz · circa 1950
340 × 248 cm
Price on request
Hand-knotted Persian carpets
Objects of enduring beauty.
Hand-knotted Persian carpets, selected for their craftsmanship, character and provenance.
The collection
Selected pieces
Craftsmanship
Made slowly. Kept for generations.
Every carpet in the collection is chosen piece by piece — for its wool and silk, its construction, its colour, its condition, and the history it carries.
- Material
- Fleece, spin and dye judged in the hand, not the photograph.
- Construction
- Knotting, foundation and finish appropriate to the type.
- Colour
- Depth that survives daylight; abrash welcomed, harshness not.
- Condition
- Honest surfaces; conservation documented, never disguised.
- History
- Provenance researched and stated as far as it is known.
- Character
- The unquantifiable reason a piece enters the collection.
Knotting at the loom — each row tied and beaten down by hand.
Madder, walnut and undyed fleece.
Hand-spun highland wool, rich in lanolin.
Shop by origin
The weaving regions
Each city and district of Iran weaves in its own accent — of drawing, wool and colour. Begin with the region whose temperament suits the room.
- TabrizNorthwest Iran · workshop weaving since the 15th century
- KashanCentral Iran · classical medallion tradition
- IsfahanCentral Iran · precision drawing on silk foundations
- HerizEast Azerbaijan · architectural village weaving
- KermanSoutheast Iran · painterly drawing, soft palette
- QomCentral Iran · fine silk weaving since the 1930s
Signature piece
Ravar Kerman carpet
Woven in Ravar, north of Kerman, at the turn of the twentieth century — the village whose looms defined the finest chapter of Kerman weaving. The drawing is that of a master cartoonist: a poised medallion dissolving into garden imagery, cypress and blossom handled with miniature-painting delicacy.
Carpets of this school were made for presentation rather than the market, and surviving examples in honest condition are now collected as objects. This one has escaped the usual interventions; what is on the loom-state record is what you see.
- Origin
- Kerman, Iran
- Date
- circa 1900
- Dimensions
- 358 × 262 cm · 11′9″ × 8′7″
- Materials
- Fine wool pile, Cotton foundation, Natural dyes
- Construction
- Hand-knotted, asymmetrical (Persian) knot
- Condition
- Remarkable survival. Original pile with areas of even, honest wear; no reduction, no repiling. Conserved rather than restored.
- Provenance
- By descent in a European private collection since the 1950s; earlier history researched and documented in the dossier that accompanies the carpet.
Price on request
Interiors
Placed with intention.
A carpet succeeds when it answers its room. We help clients weigh scale, light, architecture, colour and atmosphere before a single piece is proposed — thoughtfully, personally, without hurry.
For significant acquisitions we prepare scaled floor plans, arrange private viewings, and advise on pairing antique weaving with contemporary furniture.
Private consultationThe house
A carpet should carry presence without demanding attention.
zarif works with collectors, designers and architects who want exceptional weaving described honestly and placed well. Nothing in the collection is anonymous; nothing is oversold.
- Authentic craftsmanship
- Hand-knotted and hand-woven work only, from named regions and traditions.
- Careful sourcing
- Pieces found through long relationships with weavers, families and the trade.
- Responsible restoration
- Conservation that stabilises and secures — documented, never disguised.
- Accurate description
- Age, condition and provenance stated plainly, including what is not known.
- Enduring materials
- Wool, silk and vegetal colour chosen to be walked on for another century.
- Delivered personally
- Fully insured delivery across the United Kingdom and Europe, arranged piece by piece.
Journal
Notes on weaving
notes from zarif
New acquisitions, stories of craftsmanship and selected interiors. A short letter, sent occasionally.