old rug from mehraban in the hamadan region which is very tightly woven on fine cotton warps. The weave pattern is virtually identical to a rug featured in the excellent text book "Hamadan" by p. j. Wilborg which is described as being north west Mehreban (or possibly Khamseh). Several additional factors such as the brown woollen wefts and end finishes also point to Mehraban. The design is clearly influenced by the nearby Kurds and consists of two of the three components of the Herati design, the acanthus leaf and rose flower head, which have been used throughout the field. The madder colour in the field has fourteen different bands of slightly different shades, known as abrash. Reference 3317. Size 174 x 101 cms., or 5ft. 9ins. x 3ft. 4ins. Euros 285. sold.