Antique Karajeh Persian Runner Rug, Circa 1900 Karajeh is a small rural village located in the Azerbaijani region of northwestern Iran. In this mountainous and isolated countryside near the slopes of Mount Abalan, the quiet and natural beauty of the place can feel suspended in another time. Many of the Turkish-speaking tribes who call the area home remain semi-nomadic, practicing today the same long-held traditions that carried them on their migration from central Asia centuries ago. Among these, at the core of Karajeh art and culture, are the superlative carpets woven by the Karajeh women. These rugs, distinguished among Persian carpets of their time, have been described variously as "whimsical," “rustic,” even "fun," doubtlessly for the spontaneous and vivacious quality of their patterns. Among the broader category of Heriz Persian rugs, of which the Karajeh carpets are a unique part, they stand out beautifully for their expressive character, as though the rugs themselves are the living embodiment of tribal tradition
