Posted on: August 4, 2020
Inspiration Everywhere – Majesty Carpet
Like the rest of Orley Shabahang’s Animal Collection, the Majesty carpet takes its inspiration from the tribal carpets of yore. In classic Orley Shabahang fashion, however, lead designer Bahram Shabahang applies his modern interpretation to age-old motifs.
More specifically, the Majesty carpet is heavily influenced by antique and vintage Qashqai rugs like the one pictured below. These handwoven village rugs predominantly feature geometrically-adorned big cats. These truly majestic animals were once native to the Persian mountainsides and have been highlighted in Persian carpets for centuries. As such, Shabahang wanted to maintain the subject, but update its appearance. For example, he modernizes the color palette by swapping the cherry red and navy blue intrinsic to antique Persian carpets with a vegetable dyed blue-green and cool grey. Furthermore, the scale of the border is larger. Its pattern of black yarn outlines a flower in its center. This outlining carries into the patterning within the lion’s body. Here, Shabahang adds a layer of sophistication with the lattice-like motif. Whereas the original rugs were more rudimentary in their detailing, the Majesty carpet takes its ornamentation to the next level.
Fun fact! The Orley Shabahang team loves Majesty so much that we remixed its pattern yet again in our Shag collection. Bucolic, pictured below, blows up the scale of the lion’s patterning to create a design in its own right.
Check out Orley Shabahang’s website to find Majesty alongside a treasure trove of other vegetable-dyed, handwoven one-of-a-kind Persian carpets. Whether you trend toward antiquity, modernity, or a mix of both, Orley Shabahang is the one-stop shop for all of your carpet needs.
