Inspiration Everywhere – Magnolia

Capturing the gaze of its viewer, this design, titled Magnolia, is one of Orley Shabahang’s premiere examples of their Arts and Crafts carpet collection. Continue reading to discover Magnolia’s inspiration and what makes this piece so captivating.

The inspiration for Orley Shabahang’s Arts and Crafts collection is derived from its namesake art movement, capturing one’s attention and emotions from its bold motifs and patterning. Many of our Arts and Crafts carpets utilize traditional Persian carpet concepts and mimic their effect. Simultaneously, Orley Shabahang utilizes motifs in nontraditional methods by changing the motif’s size, position, and patterning. This combination of the traditional Arts and Crafts style and Persian motifs is showcased in Magnolia, which simultaneously utilizes a few other different Persian design elements.

Magnolia was inspired by an 18th-century castle located in Isfahan, Iran. Known for its interior plasterwork, the artist and lead designer of the Orley Shabahang collections, Bahram Shabahang, was inspired by the beautiful magnolias sculpted into the plaster. Bahram took those influences and brought them into the 21st Century. He was able to do this by taking Magnolia’s three-dimensional shape and translating it into a two-dimensional design. The blossoms are fully expanded and attached to the magnolia’s stem.

Additionally, the stems play off another Persian design element, the Tree of Life design. Traditionally, the Tree of Life design connects the interior field’s pattern, interconnecting through the bulk of the carpet’s elements. Magnolia continues this theme by having the brown magnolia stems connect throughout the carpet’s simplistic pattern.  

If you enjoyed Magnolia, and want to see more pieces from our Arts and Crafts collection, check out orleyshabahang.com! And if our website is not enough, check our digital showroom on 1stdibs.com to see the rest of our impressive collection!