2nd quarter of the 20th century Persian Meshed rug with a beautiful all-over design on an ivory field rug no. j3140 size 13' 3" x 15' 5" (404 x 470 cm) The city of Meshed is one of Iran's oldest cities, located in the Khorassan province in the northeast corner of Persia. Geographically, it is situated far apart across the great desert from the densely populated western region of the country where the great mass of carpets were traditionally produced. Therefore, until the early part of this century, its weaving was relatively unaffected by domestic artistic trends, and, of perhaps even greater importance, was less influenced by the demands of the European market. Meshed weavers have traditionally produced grand carpets of relatively fine weave, sometimes in sizes ranging to palace size. One distinguishing feature found in many Meshed carpets is a range of distinctive blue-red tones from deep rose to rich wine to cranberry, created by adding small amounts of indigo to the madder red dye bath. These regal reds are often complemented by a wide palette of delightful, deeply saturated naturally-dyed colors. In the finest pieces, a high-quality, lanolin-rich wool is used, which carries a highly silky luster and provides increased longevity, even with many decades of high traffic use.