vkeers@worldonline.nl
Dear all,  This Gabbeh is my
millennium rug. Patric Ampe started it all in the beginning of the 90's.
He isn't with us anymore but he will always be rememberd by his fabulous
Gabbeh's etc. I didn't know him personally, only met him once at the
Maastricht fair, but from my cliënts I heard he was a gentleman who took
his time for everyone who entered his gallery. I bought this Gabeh in
1993, before I met Patrick. I was in love with it from the moment I saw
the rug. In the upper part it has been restored, for at that place the
feet were placed while praying. It's a prayer-Gabbeh. The three "falling
stars" are Christ, Mohamed, Budha or Ahura Mazda the god of Zoroaster.
This last god is familiar in Fars and the symbols in the lower part of the
prayer rug could well be Fire-altars. The stars are raining from heaven.
The three religions do not meet in the lower part, but they do in the
upper part (when you're on the rug praying) after we have entered the
great big star in the middle: Paradise. While praying you can't look in
the pile, for the rug has been knotted upside down, a practice I've
encounterd in some Caucasian prayer rugs as well.  The extra image is for showing the
extreme quality wool; it's like silk. It must be a pleasure to pray on.
The wefts S2Z six shoots make it easy to handle. The knots are asymmetric
with a good weft depression which gives the rug extra softness. This is my
rug of the century, of the millenium, this is my love-rug. Best regards,
Vincent |