Klardasht 215x298cm

These carpets are rather unusual, but very well-known from several antique paintings. The village, Klardasht, is situated in the north of Iran, south of the Caspian Sea, near the Alborz mountains. The motifs on these carpets normally consists of a hexagon surrounded by white primitive lines and sometimes even a scarab in the middle. On the central part of the carpet, and on the border, there are decorative figures of more simple types together with flowers. The background colour is often bricked with dark blue and brown as dominating colours. The pile is made of thick, soft wool, the warp of cotton and the knots is Turkish. The carpets are very durable and very long-lasting. The quality of these carpets vary, before 1960 they were very good. Between 1965-1980 the quality sank when western collectors forced the weavers to modify their patterns and colours. After the revolution in 1979 the quality began to be better and today the quality is the same as it used to be in the olden days, both when it comes to design and colours. Kalardasht is of an area of fertile valleys to the northwest of Teheran, close to the Caspian coast. The landscape is made up of soft hills and hardwood forests, and is very different from the more inhospitable landscape in southern Iran. The population is mostly Kurdish. The villages are picturesque; the houses are made of wood and are roughly polished. The roofs are pitched and covered by slate or shingles. Rugs produced in Kardasht are coarsely knotted and have geometrical patterns, often decorated with flowers and birds. The colours used are primarily a dark deep red, and a very strong blue that almost appears black. Few areas of white, green, and yellow are used to enhance parts of the pattern.