How to recognize an Isfahan
Isfahan rugs use the asymmetric knot at very high density, 400 to 800 per square inch, in kork wool (the fine wool from a lamb's first shearing) on a cotton or, on the best pieces, silk foundation. Designs are the classic Safavid vocabulary: a central medallion with elaborate arabesques, Shah Abbas palmettes, vase and tree‑of‑life compositions, and pictorial and prayer designs, usually in ivory, soft red, blue and green. Fine Isfahans are signed by the workshop (Seirafian is the best known) in a cartouche at one end. They are mostly small to medium, 3×5 to 7×10, and they are expensive.
On Long Island they are collector and decorator pieces in Great Neck, Kings Point, Sands Point, Old Westbury, Lloyd Harbor and the Hamptons, and they arrive at the plant either as a prized possession or as an inheritance whose owner has just discovered what it is.
- Origin
- Isfahan, central Iran
- Knot
- Asymmetric; 400–800 kpsi
- Pile
- Kork wool, often with silk highlights
- Foundation
- Cotton or silk
- Dyes
- Generally stable, high quality
- Our method
- Foundation check → dye test → gentle dusting → cool wash (immersion for cotton foundation, flat hand wash for silk) → clear rinse → gentle extraction → flat dry
