Hello,

We are new to this forum, so I hope I am as thorough as possible. We are considering purchasing a "tabriz" from "Iran". The only assurance we have at this time is the sellers word on that.

We will be leaving the area within a couple of weeks...and are hoping to put this in our shipment, hence the ASAP:)

What we do know of the item, as "newbies", is that it is wool, silk (variety of colors), approx. 50 RAJ, cotton foundation, about 6.5ft x 10ft and as far as I can tell, it is unsigned. The pile appears even throughout, just used. No holes. Only the silk looks crushed.

We are negotiating with the seller here in Bahrain. The item looks "used". He said it was in his home. There are some stains that seem to rub out when stroked, but there is one stain, in the center medallion that looks to be of tea or similar. He washed the carpet, especially in that area, but it didn't go away. We aren't too terribly concerned with the stain (unless you think we should be), what we are is wondering if his asking price is "fair" or we will be paying more than it's worth. When he opened it, there were some loose cloves that fell out.

We are intending to use this for our bedroom. It will not be in a high traffic area.

I hope the pictures will help. I have more with other details if needed.

Would anyone know what a fair price for this carpet be?

Thank you so much for any help you can give to ease our minds!

Hello Sarafe & Co,

Thank you for answering! You stated that I could find this in the west. Would it be with the same muted coloring?
Could you tell me where I may find them? Is there a link to one like it?

What would be a fair price without the flaw? And if we still wanted this one, what's the most we should pay? How much does the flaw reduce the value?

Thank you again:)

Streeter

Hi,

like the rug and that salmon colour. From buying these types of city rugs for the past year, and buying them used but in normally very good to excellent condition, I would probably not pay more than 2000 Euro, or 3000 Euro max if I really loved it...

For another example of a new rug that looks a bit like yours, but with silk foundation and signature (and with a very attractive price tag) see:

http://www.mycarpet.it/e...ry=tabriz&results=59

redo

Hi Streeter,

First of all, please note that I am buying used rugs online based on some pictures that are posted there. So the prices that I quoted in my last mail of how much I would pay for a rug like yours are based on that assumption. Means that I am always taking a rather high risk when buying these items. You are actually seeing and touching the rug, so that is certainly worth some extra money as it comes with peace of mind. The rugs from ebay that you refer to in your post would be the high risk ones, especially given the appraisal they show which in my opinion is ridiculous for 50Raj Tabriz rugs woven on cotton. Below a link for a 10x13 Tabriz with cotton foundation with the color scheme you are after (kpsi seems to be quite wrong though, and the wool foundation is a simple typo). You will see that the seller has rugs that cost $100’000 like the appraisal from your ebay seller, but then they are of entirely different quality and signed by very famous weavers.

http://www.tableaurug.com/rugs/view/1/12/Large(9x12-10x13)/685/Pink-Benam

Anyway, for good vs very good vs excellent condition as I see it:

If you go through my posts on the forum, you will find two rugs I would classify as in excellent condition. A small Isfahan rug with asymmetric design (2 square meters) and a Nain rug (2.4 square meters). These had very few and small things that would tell me (a non expert) that they are used. Selvage and fringes look essentially new, no stains, color runs, moth damages etc.

For a rug that I would call in very good condition; the pictures below show you a Tabriz 50Raj (4 square meters). It has one corner where the color is slightly faded, and has the kilim part on one side that needs cleaning. Kilim part is no problem to clean, but it does not bother me so was left as is. The faded part is really minor, but would probably be more difficult to ‘erase’. No stains, no color runs, no moth damage.

The last rug is in good condition (as I see it); again possibly a Tabriz (50Raj, 4 square meters). One side of the rug is slightly faded (right side in the full picture). There is a small orange stain and some color run, together with a slightly darker area that seems to be where something happened. Stains and color run can possibly be fixed, the fading probably more difficult.

To come back to buying online versus seeing and touching the rug. The two rugs that I show here have very different wool quality. The black one has very nice soft wool, the other one much less so. In some older posts, the experts (I think it was KAD?) said that there are also ‘fake’ Tabriz rugs that are actually not woven in Tabriz but in some cheaper-labor regions of Iran.

Last thing, the four rugs I mention here cost me between 400 and 1200 Euro each, shipping costs from Germany to Australia included.

Hope that helps

redo

You would be mad to buy it with a stain it will not come
Out or the seller would have got it out
Don't do it

Hi

I'm not an expert, but I could see some stain in the rug. I will try to mark the area.

Hello to all who responded! We came to an agreeable price and had it washed. It's beautiful! With more silk than we realized at first. It's packed and sent to new destination. When we arrive and receive our goods we will post an updated phot cross fingers, all goes well with shipping/move:)