Provenance and Weaving Tradition

The Qashqai are a Turkic-speaking confederation of tribes that has migrated for centuries through the highlands of southern Iran, with Shiraz as the cultural centre of their territory. Qashqai weavers are recognised among the most accomplished tribal artisans of the Persian world; both their knotted rugs and their flatwoven kilims carry an unmistakable confidence in geometric form and saturated, naturally dyed colour.

This piece is a kilim — a flatweave rather than a knotted-pile rug, in which the design is carried entirely by the warp and weft of the wool. It is hand-woven from highland wool, dyed exclusively with natural vegetable pigments, and woven to an unusually fine, even quality for a tribal kilim. The natural dyes give the surface its characteristic depth and the soft, breathing transitions in colour that synthetic dyes cannot replicate.

Colour and Composition

The composition is built in horizontal bands of alternating ground colour — navy blue, terracotta-orange, sand-apricot and dove blue — each band filled with a different register of Qashqai tribal motifs: rows of stepped and serrated diamonds, hooked “ram's-horn” figures, linked geometric rosettes and bands of triangles. Fine saw-tooth lines separate and frame the bands, and the whole field is closed by a triangle border with woven kilim fringes at each end. The palette pairs the deep navy and terracotta grounds with apricot, dove blue, ivory and red accents — all natural vegetable dyes.

Presence in the Room

At 208 × 152 cm (3.2 m²) this is a generous small-to-medium piece. Three contexts in which the kilim reaches its full effect:

• Living or dining room: The flat, lightweight construction is ideal for high-traffic spaces and for use under or beside a dining table, where a deep pile would be impractical.
• Hallway or transition zone: Kilims are particularly well suited to entries and corridors — the flatweave is hard-wearing and the tribal motif welcomes visitors with craft and confidence.
• Wall hanging as textile art: The reversible construction and graphic clarity make a Qashqai kilim an outstanding choice for textile-art wall placement — the saturated natural dyes catch shifting daylight beautifully.

Specifications

Responsible Origin · Label STEP

Djoharian is a certified partner of Label STEP, the international fair-trade organisation for hand-knotted and hand-woven rugs. STEP audits production conditions on the ground — wages, working environment, no child labour — and tracks pieces from loom to dealer.

Djoharian — Since 1967

Our family business was founded in 1967, with roots in the Grand Carpet Bazaar of Tehran — five decades of trade and connoisseurship behind every piece we offer.

Service

Secure and fast worldwide shipping, fully insured. Each piece is professionally inspected, washed and shipped with a certificate of authenticity. We are available for any questions on placement, care, or comparable pieces.