SIGNED JABBARZADEH, NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1920

Whilst other early 20th century workshops such as PETAG began producing Tabriz carpets of similar style, Benlian carpets can be identified by their eight-pointed star insignia woven in the corner of the inner guard stripe. The Benlian workshop was founded in the first half of the 20th century in Tabriz, where it wove carpets specifically for the European market. Of Armenian descent, Ezepos G. Benlian had a strong affinity with the Armenian community of Tabriz and set up a workshop employing the best weavers in order to produce carpets of the highest quality. His master weavers included Javan Amir Kizi, Mahmud Ghalicheh. These master weavers were extremely successful in reinterpreting the classical carpet designs of 16th and 17th century Safavid Persia, for more modern tastes.