Persian Qashqai gabbeh rug with tree of life. 236x170 cms

A  neutral coloured Persian gabbeh rug with a huge tree of life as the main motif.

The symbolism of the tree of life: it represents the axis of the world that connects the three parts of the cosmos: the underworld where it sinks its roots, the world of humans where its trunk rises, and the celestial spheres toward which it extends its branches.

The tree in this rug is set against a neutral and calm background woven with undyed natural wool. The tree is very schematically drawn, with slender and elegant branches that alternate rows of goats and vegetable motifs.

This gabbeh has been woven using top quality wool and only natural dyes. 

Material: 100% hand-spun sheep wool

Size: 236×170 cms

Origin: Qashqai tribe, Iran

Date of weaving: New

Traditionally a sleeping rug, a gabbeh is a hand-woven pile rug of coarse quality characterized by an abstract design that relies upon open fields of color and a playfulness with geometry. This type of rug is popular among the populations of the Zagros Mountains of Iran, including Kurdish, Luri and Qashqai people.The gabbeh is usually woven by women.

Gabbeh carpets are much thicker and coarser than other Persian carpets; sometimes they can be as much as one inch or 2.5 cm in depth. In fact, they are more a variety of kilim than carpet. The word “gabbeh” comes from the Persian گبه, meaning raw, natural, uncut. This is a rough and primitive carpet.

Gabbeh patterns are of a very basic kind with only a limited number of decorative, mostly rectangular objects, animals and vegetable motives. In a gabbeh usually bright colors, such as yellow and red, are used. Often undyed natural wool is used (brown, beige, black, white etc.). Although large fields of solid color are used in gabbeh designs, the color is variegated (the color varies throughout the rug, with the appearance of differently colored zones).