Khamseh Prayer Rug?

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

I recently acquired this little piece, which measures about 1m x 84cm, and it appears to be a prayer rug made by one of the Khamseh tribes, or perhaps in a village near Shiraz, probably in the early 20th century. It may have been made as a gift or celebratory weaving. I'm sure the readers of your forum will have views on the attribution and answers to the following questions - first, why were prayer rugs so uncommon in South Persia, and second, can anyone suggest the source of the orange stain on the reverse side and how to deal with it? If anyone has images of comparable pieces, I'd be very pleased to see them posted here.

With thanks, John

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

It looks nice. It appears to be missing a few centimeters from the bottom and the date, if I am seeing it correctly of 1321 translates into 1903.

The stain could have been caused by numerous reasons. Was something spilled on? Was the rug wet and bled? Was it placed on another wet rug? In the 121 years it’s been around, many things could have happened. I’d suggest to take it to a professional oriental rug cleaner to see if they can help. I do know they can remove the color from the white section.

[Frank Petruziello Member Find all posts View Profile Close Frank Petruziello]

On the stain, I have used Magic Stain and Dye Remover to great effect on my rugs where bleeding has occurred. Here is a link.

https://hmnabavian.com/collections/s...in-dye-remover

Frank

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Joe and Frank -

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. My guess is that the orange dye has leeched on to this rug from another textile. I think the prayer rug has been through the hands of a dealer fairly recently (I acquired it privately, and the last owner left well enough alone) so I assume it was thought risky to try to remove it. I'm not in the US, so I don't suppose I'd be able to get hold of the 'Magic Stain and Dye Remover', but I imagine there is an equivalent here. I bought it for the rug's interest, not its beauty, so I think I can live with it as it is - although it would be great to get rid of the stain!

John