Qashqa'i ( Shekarlu )                                                         

                                                          Northwest Persian                                 

                                              Extremely High-Collectible, Museum Piece.  

             Very very hard to find top quality ( NO ) restoration .  Circa : 1850  Size : 6' 0" x 10' 0"    

       A quick information about the Qashqa'i Shekarlu nomads. It is roughly two centuries since the majority of Shekarlus forsook nomadism and chose a sedentary way of life in lower Semiron,south of Isfahan,where they intermingled with the Lori inhabitants of the area;hence their complete break with the Qashqa'i tribal structure and the prominence of Lori elements in their weavings.A small number of Shekarlu still migrate between the highlands of Baka'n in the Abarj district and the lowlands of Cha'h-mina' in La'r.

Shekarlu  pilewoven rugs rank amongst the most outstanding examples of purely tribal  Ashka'li design,which is  composed  composed  composed  composed of an assortment of abstract geometrical motifs.Nearly all 18th and 19th century Ashka'li Shekarlu rugs carry the distinctive white ' comb ' motif,an Islamic cleanliness symbol,in a directional semi-herringbone arrangement. A less frequent characteristic form is a heavily stylized cypress tree;its deeply serrated body,outlined in reciprocal bird-head motifs,takes on a more conspicuously symbolic character by enclosing an abstract 'rain tree 'i.e.,plant made up of sharp triangular abbreviated bird-heads,the prehistoric rain/water symbols.Many Shekarlu motifs are of Lori origin,most notably the directionally arranged 'barber's pole' bird-head trees.

On this vividly colored antique specimen the herringbone array of the combs,coupled with the vertical zigzag pattern formed by another type of 'pole' terminating at the vertical edges of each comb,imparts a wavy,dynamic course to the field design-a feature not encountered on other example.

The flat woven wool and cotton end skirts,which are decorated with the idiosyncratic checkered end treatment of Fars in ( shesheh-dermeh ) technique,are peculiar to some of the 18th /early 19th century examples.Shekarlus invariably use an all wool foundation, Asy. 1 knots with no depression and two wavy weft shoots,usually in dark red.