Gabbeh – rustic beauty

Made by the Ghashgai nomads in southern Iran, the Gabbeh has always been prized for its high quality and durability. Characteristics of the Gabbeh are its coarse weave and thick pile. The term “Gabbeh” translates from Persian as “raw” and “natural”, which aptly describes its essence.

Originally

Some tribes still make Gabbeh rugs in the traditional way today. They use the rugs as accessories to decorate and adorn the nomads' tents. The material used is mainly high-quality sheep's wool, which comes from local animals and is dyed exclusively with natural dyes.

Color

You can recognize a traditional Gabbeh by its expressive, bright colors, which give the rugs a cheerful and inviting look. They reflect the joie de vivre of the nomadic women. Typical colors are red, blue, yellow, green, brown and natural colors. They are obtained from roots, bark, minerals, pomegranate and walnut shells, as well as plants.

Simple

You can recognize a Gabbeh by its simple pattern. As a rule, only a few stylized and decorative elements are used in weaving. Common motifs include animals and plants, inspired by the natural environment. Geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and stripes are also common. The backgrounds are often monochrome or show gradients in the shades of a color.

Haptic

Virgin wool is used for Gabbeh rugs. The nomadic tribes live in the Zagros Mountains with sheep that are shorn by the men and prepared for further processing by the women. The wool is particularly crease-resistant, elastic, soft and warm, and does not absorb moisture or odors. It is hand-spun, which contributes to its robustness, and is environmentally friendly and harmless to health.

Knotted

You can recognize an original Gabbeh by its knotting. A special and particularly dense knotting technique is used to join two threads, which, in combination with the high pile, creates particularly comfortable and durable rugs. This is how the rough density on the surface is created, combining almost 70,000 knots in one square meter.

Back

When choosing, you should definitely pay attention to the back, because it provides information about the knotting technique. Rugs with a high-quality warp (the longitudinal threads of the rug) are characterized by high durability, because nomadic women use traditional techniques for the warp threads that make the rug stable and long-lasting. In the case of inferior imitations, you often find a back with a latex coating that stands out due to chemical odors. Traditional Gabbeh rugs are made entirely from natural materials such as wool or cotton and are therefore odorless.

Universally

The versatility of the Gabbeh rug makes it an indispensable element in a wide range of interior styles. Since the 1980s, there has been a steadily growing enthusiasm for Gabbeh rugs in the West, which led to a real boom in the 1990s. No wonder – with its often simple, abstract patterns and clean lines, it blends effortlessly into modern, minimalist interior styles and gives every room a warm, timeless elegance.