Senneh

(Posted on 25/02/17)

The old respected name of Senneh is synonymous with valuable Oriental carpets.  Thus, the Persian knot is also known as the Senneh knot even though it is hardly used here.  Today this town, which was proclaimed the capital of the Kurds by Shah Nadir in the 18th century and is famous throughout the carpet world, is known as Sanandaj. 

Senneh and Bidjar are both major Kurdish centres in which no authentically Kurdish carpet were woven.  It is probably true that in Senneh some of the finest knotted carpets of old Persia were woven, and the weaving tradition was preserved for centuries.  This applies not only to finesses of weave and special weaving techniques, but also to the development of the designs and interpretation of patterns and ornaments borrowed from many other carpet weaving areas and cultures, as for example the Herati pattern or perennial boteh symbol, amongst others.

Senneh products stand at the pinnacle of Persian carpet art because of the precision of drawing and knotting, the range and harmony of their colours and the artistic composition of the designs in the field, corners and borders.  This is equally true of knotted carpets as of rugs woven in the kilim technique.