Gabbeh Rug Guide

Persian rugs > Persian rug guides > Gabbeh rugs

Little-Persia is home to many Gabbeh rugs, click here to view our collection.

Gabbeh is the name for a particular kind of Persian carpet; a Gabbeh rug has a simple design, hand knotted with pure wool dyed naturally, finished with a thick pile.

Gabbeh carpets were originally made by women from Qashgai tribes of south-western of Persia. Original designs were very basic with only a limited number of decorative patterns, mostly geometric mix of objects resembling animals, humans (kids) or trees (abstracts), coarsely knotted with brightly coloured wool. The oldest document that refers to Gabbeh carpets dates back to the sixteenth Century A.D.

Gabbeh carpets were not commercially introduced to the west until the 80s because it was thought Gabbehs were too crude to be worth trading; however, recently their artistic value has been recognized. Gabbeh’s natural woolly texture, thickness, design and competitive price, it quickly became popular in homes with contemporary/ modern interior. Gabbeh rugs are extremely durable, usually small to medium in size and compliment the modern interiors well.

Due to this popularity other rug producing countries rushed to produce Gabbeh copies. Unfortunately these copies fail to achieve the purity of design, texture, colours, and the construction of the original Persian Gabbeh.    

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Little-Persia is home to many Gabbeh rugs, click here to view our collection.