CIRCA 1890S VERY FINE MANCHESTER WOOL KASHAN MOHTASHAM. ALL OVER DESIGN. MEDIUM PILE. 9'5"X14.7" . DECORATIVE EXEMPLARY FINE RUG , VERY RARE.
The antique Persian carpet style known as Mohtasham Kashan (Mo-ta-shom) honors the memory of the 19th-century master weaver Hadji Mollah Mohammed Hassan Mohtasham who was, in turn, a descendant — and namesake — of a revered 16th-century Persian poet.
Kashan refers to the Central Persian city where his workshop was located, historically a resort area frequented by the ultra-wealthy and royalty, whose support helped create a center of virtuoso craftsmanship. A German librarian, visiting during the 17th-century, wrote of clay houses built along narrow alleys that were bright with skeins of dyed wool hung out to dry.
It’s highly improbable that Hassan Mohtasham actually invented the weaving style named for him, for according to Claremont Rug Company founder and president Jan David Winitz, extant examples date back to the early 19th-century. Hassan Mohtasham did, though, promote the style, helping to bring it into prominence.
Though Mohtasham Kashan designs encompass a fairly broad range, from curvilinear shapes and botanical motifs (the 16th-century Royal Garden of Kashan, clearly an inspiration, remains intact today) to architectural pillars (representing the Gate of Paradise), these exemplary carpets and rugs share several distinctions, including extraordinarily tightly spun foundations of white cotton warp threads and pale blue, indigo-dyed, double wefts, needle-wrapped edges (often with magenta silk), and a mind-boggling display of uber-precise detail.
And all, whether woven of first-shearing lamb’s wool or silk, Mohtashams are recognized for their exceptionally luminous pile and handkerchief-like touch, known as the rug’s “handle.” In design, the most accomplished pieces offer such a wide exploration of a complex pattern language that they could be compared to a musician’s finest solo.
Perhaps most notable and distinctive are Mohtasham Kashans’ extraordinary density, typically 350 to 400 knots per square inch. “Which means,” Winitz said, “in every square inch, there are 350 to 400 or more minute mosaic tiles that create the design. We are talking about individually hand-tied knots, fashioned from extremely lanolin-rich (thus extremely difficult to work with) yarn, fashioned prior to the invention of automated steel looms— an almost inconceivable feat of manual dexterity.”
