Art Institute of Chicago

Khamseh Carpet

Southwest Iran

Date

c. 1890

Medium

Wool, plain weave with supplementary wrapping wefts forming cut pile through a technique known as "Turkish (Ghiordes) knots"

Culture

Iran

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This rug comes from the Khamseh confederation, a grouping of five separate tribes from the Fars region in southern Iran. A classic example, it features large columns of hexagonal compartments full of stylized chickens and other animals. The chickens may hark back to some ancient tribal tradition, but the large size reflects such 19th-century cultural changes as settled communities and commercial production.

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