Gabbeh Rugs are Part of a Rich Persian Tradition
The traditional Gabbeh Persian carpet – known as gava in Kurdish and Luri and called khersak in Bakhtiari – is a simple, hand-woven pile rug traditionally made by the nomadic Qashqai tribes who dwelled in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran, near the city of Shiraz. Other tribes, such as the Lurs, the Kurds and the Bahktiari also weave these carpets.
In Persian, the word “Gabbeh” means “fringe” or “in the rough.” Gabbeh rugs are rough cut and long piled rugs of rich color and the best quality wool. Most Gabbeh carpets are medium size – up to 3’ x 5’ – and feature abstract designs where shapes and color dance playfully with one another.
Variations of the gabbeh rug – such as the “Loribaft”, “Amaleh”, “Kashkuli” – may reflect the heritage of the tribe by which they are woven or the name of the city in which they are most often traded, such as “a Shiraz Gabbeh.”
The 19th century gabbeh rugs were very coarsely knotted (40kpi or less), often with shaggy pile. The name of Gholam Reza Zollanvari is synonymous with modern Gabbeh rugs. Zollanvari learned the rug business from his grandfather, a merchant in the Shirazi rug bazaar. Zollanvari pioneered the construction of fine-weave gabbehs with knot counts of 200+ kpi. Today, Zollanvari rugs are among the most popular styles of Persian rugs.
The Making of a Gabbeh Rugs: A Craft Shared Across Generations
Most Gabbeh carpets are made by women, and many are one-of-a-kind works of art. Some patterns are passed down thru the generations as mothers and grandmothers teach their daughters the art of Persian rug making. Many patterns reflect the weaver’s observations of the environments through which the tribe has passed. Some rugs are even made by the hands of many weavers.
Traditional Gabbeh rugs were woven on makeshift ground looms. These looms are built with materials are carried long distances by the nomadic tribes, or materials found where the tribe settled. Since each loom is unique, each rug is unique; this is how Gabbeh rugs get their distinctive irregular in shape.
Woven with the Wool of Mountain Sheep
Gabbeh rugs are woven from high quality wool from the tribe’s own sheep. As the tribe herds its sheep over hundreds of miles, the nomads reach high altitudes. In the summers, they stay in the highland pastures north of Shiraz in the Zargos Mountains; by winter they sojourn to pasture lands near the Persian Gulf. Sheep grazed in high altitudes produce more lanolin, giving their wool a luxurious softness and resistance to stain.
Rich, Colorful Dyes Give Gabbeh Carpets a Remarkable Color
The Qashqai people find the dyes used in Gabbeh carpets or purchase them in towns where they trade their finished carpets. Often, they use all-natural vegetable dyes to give the wool vibrant color while retaining its lanolin.
Hand-Knotted Rugs with Turkish Symmetrical Knots and Persian Asymmetrical Knots
Most of the wool used in the construction of Gabbeh rugs is handspun using a drop spindle. After the wool has been dyed and handspun, the weaver uses the loom to hand-knot the rug using Turkish symmetrical knots or Persian asymmetrical knots, or even a combination of the two. Because the all the Qashqai tribes use both types of knots, it is difficult to tell from which individual tribe any one rug has come from.
Gabbeh Rugs Are Small – Often Just 3’ x 5’ in Size
A typical size for a Gabbeh carpet is 3 feet by 5 feet. It can take 18 to 25 hours to weave even a small Gabbeh rug. Tribal Gabbeh rugs usually have lower knot counts compared to other types of Persian carpet. This low knot count and the high quality of wool makes Gabbeh rugs famous for their exceptional durability.
Durable Floor Coverings, Wraps and Bedding to Protect from the Mountain Cold
Gabbeh rugs are often floppy because they have wider rows of multiple wefts. This made the soft, pliable rugs ideal as wraps or bedding to insulate against the bitter cold of the mountains.
Gabbeh rugs are often not symmetrical due to the nomadic lifestyle of their creators, and color variations within a rug are common. Often, the variation in color in a rug tells a story of the tribe’s migration, the climates and environments it encountered, and the tribe members who contributed to its creation.
Where to Buy Gabbeh Rugs
Unless you plan to travel to Iran to shop for Gabbeh rugs in the marketplace, we’d suggest buying a Gabbeh rug online from RugSource.com or visiting our showroom. We’re proud to bring these highly coveted rugs to you – please contact us if you’d like to know more.
Blue Rugs
Blue rugs are known throughout the interior design industry to provide a calming aesthetic, while also being rather versatile within a variety of living and professional spaces. Here at Rug Source we have countless options when it comes to blue rugs, and this is because we understand how popular and adaptable these types of designs can be throughout the entirety of a home.
But no matter what you’re decorating goals are, the experts at Rug Source are here to support you throughout every step of the rug shopping process. We’ll be able to help you find the perfect blue rug for your specific needs and personal preferences, and it’s not hard to tell that our vast online inventory is much more affordable than any of our other big box competitors!
Blue rugs work well with a whole variety of neutral decorative palettes, and different shades of blue also coordinate with one another to create a more calming monochromatic room aesthetic. The options truly are endless with blue rugs, and at Rug Source we make sure that you get as much information as possible with each item within our inventory.
On this page we’ll go over our guide to purchasing your next blue area rug by providing tips about materials, room by room design options, as well as size and pattern differentiations. We always encourage our clients to reach out to our team of experts with any questions or concerns they may have while going through our online inventory, so if you’d like to speak with one of us feel free to reach out to us online so we can help continue your search towards the perfect blue area rug!
Material Always Matters
We have a rather vast selection of blue area rugs that come within a whole variety of materials and styles, so understanding how you plan to utilize your rug and your personal preferences are always going to be major consideration. Blue hues tend to provide relaxing, serene energy to any given room, ocean-themed escapes, as well as a more traditional ambience.
The material of your blue rug truly will matter a lot depending on your intentions, and as you can see we provide a variety of materials throughout our website. We always recommend wool, acrylic, cotton and other synthetic blends as materials for your area rug as these materials tend to be the most durable and will stand up well to high-traffic areas and regular wear and tear.
The height of your rug’s pile is always up to you, but some of the more durable rugs will tend to have a lower pile that’s about a half inch or so. As always everyone is different, but your favorite rug materials will surely be found throughout our massive online inventory!
Room By Room Blue Rug Considerations
One of the many perks to blue rugs is versatility throughout any room in a home, but of course there are some considerations you should keep in mind when determining what type of blue rug will look best within certain existing aesthetics and desired room designs.
The following are some tips in terms of room by room design options with blue rugs:
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Dark navy tends to be a really great hue for an area rug in a home’s dining room, especially in terms of the fall and winter months. The holidays tend to be when we have the most house guests come over for parties and entertaining, so having a universal blue color palette that works well for this time of year, as well as during warmer months, is always a great option!
Patterns and Sizes
We offer a large supply of blue rugs within seemingly countless aesthetic options. No matter what shape, pattern or size you’re looking for with your next blue rug, we’ll have you covered and do our very best to make finding your perfect aesthetic match as easy as possible. A good rule of thumb in terms of design is to choose a rug that coincides with your specific needs, while also portrays the feeling/ambience you’d like to evoke within your space.
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Runner rugs are really great options for more narrow spaces that traditional rugs can’t fit within. This includes hallways, entryways, bathrooms, closets and even kitchen island pathways.
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In terms of patterns, the general design rule of thumb is that smaller patterns will help to make a larger room feel a bit more intimate. Larger patterns tend to work well within all spaces, but the rug’s hues will help determine how bold or subtle the pattern ends up feeling.
Coloration Tips For Your Perfect Blue Rug
Contact The Rug Source Team Today For More Information
Finding your perfect blue rug isn’t always an easy task, which is why we always encourage our clients to reach out to our experts if they have any questions or concerns regarding any aspect of our online inventory.
If you need any help whatsoever while making your final purchasing selections, we’ll be more than happy to help you find the blue rug that matches your existing room aesthetics and personal preferences. Contact us online or give us a call at 980-422-4080 or 704-763-0979 to talk to one of our team members today!
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