Persian Tabriz, great deal.

Hi Silver slippers,

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Many Thanks for your very helpful explanation, Sharif & Co.! Interesting comment on washing the newer rugs as opposed to the older ones - I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. I guess I got lucky that this turned out to be an "older" rug :-) I realize that is is not the most expensive rug out there, but I do like it very much - and considering the price I paid for it, I think I will look around for a reputable carpet repair place in my area and see what they quote to fix the edges. Also - I really appreciated your insight on the meaning behind the "gul" symbol - (although I didn't know it was called that), I now realize that what I was seeing as a "cross" was based upon my own experiences with that shape, as opposed to what the weaver may have considered that shape to be. You have piqued my interest, and I am now quite curious to learn more about the gul symbols of the various tribes near Tabriz... assuming this is a "tribal" rug and not a "city" one? If you have any suggestions of good sites for me to explore in order to learn more on this (and other rug symbology) subject, I would very much appreciate it! Once again, THANK YOU very much for taking your time to help me learn more about my serendipitous acquisition! The kindness of complete strangers always amazes me!

Many thanks to you again, Mr. Sharafi !(Btw -I must inject as an aside, that I have very fond memories of a quite kind person who shared your last name from my days in Iran long ago - he was a young man serving in the Iranian military at the time- mid 1970s -who was a friend of our family & also an accomplished artist who painted several lovely watercolors as parting gifts for our family when we left his country. It is no wonder that I find someone else with that same name who is also so creative, helpful and kind!). I very much appreciated your book suggestion and am hoping to obtain a copy via Interlibrary loan here so that I may peruse it and maybe become a bit more knowledgeable about such a fascinating art. I plan to look at other books, as well. Hopefully they will aid me in at least learning to tell if a carpet is tribal or city made! I have a couple of other Persian type rugs which my in-laws have given us, Hopefully I can find out more about them, as well :-) I do remember touring a carpet weaving shop in Tehran with my mother as a child and being fascinated at how young some of the weavers there were - many not that much older than I at the time - and how nimble and quick their fingers were. The art of carpet weaving is truly unique and something that weavers pour their hearts into - which I guess is why I am so curious about the symbols used in the rugs and why they may have been selected. They seem to be such a personal piece of art - I always think of how difficult it must be for the weavers to sell them after having spent spent so much time and effort making them! Thank you again for your kind reading suggestion :-)