Vintage Qashqai rug from Iran. 202x130 cms

An original vintage lion rug woven by a Qashqai weaver in which the central medallion of the traditional Qashqai rug has been substituted by a huge central lion or shiri  in Persian. The lion is realistically portrayed except for the pelt, which shows an amizing creativity by incorporating geometric abstract motifs, tree branches and patterns usually employed in weavings. 

Oviously the weaver loved birds, since she has portrayed many different types, including some geometric birds, some realistic, peacocks, partriges, and two headed birds. Her creativitiy also had space for goats and vegetable and geometric motifs in the main field. The border is more symmetric and organised. But the contrast in size between the huge lion and the rest of the animals, shows the importance of this feline in Persian life. A charming vintage Lion rug.

Material: 100% hand-spun sheep wool

Size: 202×130 cms

Origin: Qashqai tribe, Iran

Date of weaving: 1970s

Never having had a commercial aspect, the Lion Carpets were woven only in relatively small numbers, but at the same time with great freedom of imagination. If one remembers that the weavers, women and girls of the tribes, rarely if ever saw a real lion, and that much of their conception and guidance in weaving the Lion Carpets of necessity came from animals with which they were familiar, it is hardly surprising that there are often strong resemblances between elements of their lions and the domesticated animals which were a part of their daily life.

A love of variety and an innate creativity at times took the makers of our Lion Carpets beyond the limits of nature when fashioning them. We find green, black, and flowered lions and some composed of elements from several different kinds of animals and even on occasion, human features. These and other characteristics must be seen as born of the rich imagination and skill of the weavers themselves.

Since weaving among the tribes is the work of women and girls, many of the peculiarities of the lions, such as the great love of a variety of colours and the great delicacy displayed at the same time, must be seen as the product of the nature and temperament of the weavers themselves.

With a few exceptions, the dyes employed in them were all natural and came from plants and materials of the region inhabited by the tribes.

In most of our carpets the lion is the principal subject and perhaps can be compared with an asymmetrical medallion which dominates the elements of the background. The filling of the field by means of other animals and plants helps to create the effect of a forest or thicket and contrasts nicely with the splendour and might of the lion. In some of the Lion Carpets, the repetition of the lion is reminiscent of the widely seen repeating floral design, and any lack of symmetry is masterfully compensated for by the wise use of colours and secondary designs.

The great skill displayed in such compositions in the context of Iranian traditional carpet-weaving is frequently astonishing•

Tribal weaving is done on the ground on horizontal looms without the benefit of cartoons. To start the weaving process, usually another carpet called the dastur (model) is brought. However the alterations that actually come about in time, whether from the choice of colours or in the composition, bring into being a new product different from the model used.

The simplification of lines and the geometricization of designs which are the hallmarks of tribal weaving gradually bring into being new designs, a fact readily apparent from one look at the present lions. Of them, those which have more nearly natural proportions must be. assigned to the last sixty years, because the acquisition by the tribes of pictures of lions and textiles with lion designs on them from some neighbouring countries about the time of the First World War spread the form of the lion in nature among them. The similarity of these lions with those of nature had a profound effect on the lions woven by the tribesmen in that they were inspired to produce more naturalistic lions. But not long afterwards the British blanket lion underwent a synthesis with the local tradition of lions and was remade into something original and engaging and was fully assimilated into the tribal culture of Fars.

The traditions of Lion Carpet weaving gradually lapsed at about the same time the custom of making stone lions ceased and the race of lions itself died out.

Parviz Tanavoli, “Lion Rugs from Fars”