Early 20th Century Antique Shahsavand Fish Design Flat Weave Rug

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Shahsavan Rugs – Highly unusual and exciting, antique Shahsavan or Shahsevan area rugs and carpets have only recently been recognized … Read more Shahsavan Rugs – Highly unusual and exciting, antique Shahsavan or Shahsevan area rugs and carpets have only recently been recognized as a distinct style of Persian rug. Uniquely, Shahsavan rugs and carpets were woven in an area of Persia known as the Transcaucasia – located today in extreme Northwest Iran. Because of the distinct cultural influences of this unique geographic region, Shahsavan carpets tend to have more in common with tribal Caucasian rugs than more traditional Persian rugs.

Related to the Kurdish rugs that were also woven in the Transcaucasia region, Shahsavan rugs have a strongly tribal flavor with highly abstract, geometric designs and rich colors. This also makes Shahsavan rugs a close aesthetic cousin of the Caucasian carpets that were also historically woven in this general area.


Shahsavan rugs are sometimes distinguished by certain shades of lavender or deep pink and salmon tones, in conjunction with soft blues; these light colors are atypical in other regional styles. The Shahsavan tribes were originally transported and resettled in the Northwest of Iran from their native homeland in Central Asia by the Persian kings of the seventeenth century. This important historical development helps to explain the close ties between the Shahsavan style and similar styles developed by the Turkomans and other Central Asian tribes. A unique style of antique Persian rug, Shahsavan rugs and carpets are rich in cultural significance as well as in beauty. See less