My Isfahan rug, and why I cherish it.

Hey cuties,

I know it is not a well taken photo but this is my beauty: Silk foundation, mixture of silk and wool pile. It has nearly 120 knots in each cm square. Signed by the artist Abbass Mansouri, a celebrated artist from Isfahan who combines traditional designs with modern motifs borrowed from ancient Persian art. I cannot say how much I LOVE his work.  My other favourit Persian rug artist from Isfahan is Davari.  

This rug is very nostalgic for me: the central medallion reminds me of those exotic blue china cups with flower design that my grandmother gave my mom. We used them for Norouz (Persian new year).
On the field (the blue background) I can see our garden, flowers, butterflies (see how many you could find), the beautiful pond we had in the garden with blue tiles, vine tree branches (just like our garden).  On its border I can traces of Persepolis, the ancient Persian capital I used to visit in summer with my family.   This rug "is" a piece of my home and my mother gave it to me so I can take a piece of our home with myself everywhere I go. 

I have one of the greatest mothers on the planet. She is an educated woman, a great educator (now retired) and the kindest human I have ever seen.  She loves books, good food, classic music, our Persian cat, my dad's black almond eyes (LOL), and of course Persian rugs. Not in any particular order! ;)

She is over 70 yr old but has one of the sharpest mind I have ever seen. She can repair everything from the dishwasher to the oven or even water pipes. She once decided to do kick boxing to encourage my little niece to exercise. You get the idea. Oh  and she cooks so well you would eat the food with the plate. She is my idol, my mother, my teacher, and my best friend.  She lives in the other side of the world and I miss her every second. 

One day, I was walking with her in Isfahan bazar.  I had saved for some time to buy an Isfahan rug and I was looking for something within my budget. We saw this great masterpiece but no way I could afford it (I could barely afford half of it). Long story short: she FORCED me to let her to pay for it. And finally I agreed that she pays for the amount that was outside my budget. So we brought this beauty home to dad's astonishment! :D

Mom suggested to find a name for it. We name things we love (we are a crazy family). Mom even names her flower pots. So we called my rug Fereshteh which means "angel" in Persian. 

The rug reminds me of mom. She is my REAL angel of course. It also reminds me of all of those strong and caring women who work many hours a day to weave Persian rugs. Majority of them have NO Persian rugs themselves but they weave them to support their family. They spend months or years bent over a large loom, knotting thousands or millions of threads. It is a very hard quest, but in doing so they bring a piece of heaven to our lives, maybe to remind us how art and love has no borders.

Speaking of love, Love is ancient, mysterious, beautiful and immortal - just like a Persian rug. So cherish your rug and what it means. Like I do. 

your Persian with love,

<3