Oriental Rugs Dictionary

Ardabil Carpets

The Ardabil carpets were brought to England by Ziegler and Company, a Manchester firm who were the earliest European dealers and manufacturers of carpets active in Persia, in the early 1880s. These were two identical carpets in need of restoration purchased from a mosque in Ardabil. Large portions of one carpet were used to create an almost perfect carpet which was then sold to the British Victoria and Albert museum for the enormous amount of 2000 Pounds in 1893. The remaining parts of the carpet ended up in a California Museum with small fragments in various collections, both public and private.