A wonderful antique Ziegler-Mahal carpet woven with a natural wool off-white background, one of the rarest colours to find. The deep indigo blue border is a great frame for the main design and colours, we also have some beautifully drawn birds in the border design in-between the floral patterns. The main field design consists of large scale abstract flowers and leaves, the natural dyes of sage green, muted pink, gold tones and aubergine/brown early dyes create a fantastic palette. This carpet would be a dream to scheme around choosing fabrics to work with it for a drawing room or study for example. So many fabulous colours to use.
From the late 19th century, we can see some minor old restoration in areas, nothing too considerable, and in general the pile height is exceptional throughout, with beautiful soft dyes we associate with the Ziegler & Co workshop carpets. Professionally cleaned, this carpet is ready to be purchased and used as a beautiful decorative carpet.
Ziegler-Mahal’s are called as such, because the Ziegler workshop produced carpets from their own looms with their own designs. Using traditional Persian patterns consisting of small palmettes, floral rosettes and leaves, these were soon commissioned in grand sizes for the Western market and the designs, in particular the palmettes, were blown up to large proportions. Often these Ziegler-Mahals can be considered earlier productions from the workshop, before designs were scaled up and large 5 x 4 metre examples were produced.
In 1883, Ziegler and Co, of Manchester, England established a Persian carpet manufacture in Sultanabad Persia, which employed designers from major western department stores such as B. Altman & Co of New York and Liberty, to modify 16th- and 17th-century Eastern designs for the more restrained western taste. Using highly developed dying techniques, and the best artisans from the region, the Ziegler Co created rugs with beautiful, all-over patterns and with softer palettes than their vibrant Persian counterparts.
Ziegler & co workshop carpets have always been revered and desired by collectors and designers alike. Ziegler rugs developed an almost immediate following in the late 19th Century, especially among early collectors which included the Guinness family, who laid them in Elveden Hall, their Suffolk estate. Ziegler carpets are one of the only types of Persian carpet which were influenced by western designs and have become one of the most sought after carpets in the world today.