Provenance: Åkerby manor house, Nora, Sweden.

Ziegler & Co., a Swiss import company based in England, identified the high demand in the West for Persian carpets and set up workshops in the Sultanabad region in the late 1870s to produce carpets that would appeal to western tastes. Designers from major department stores including Liberty of London dictated color palettes and rug patterns. Specially dyed wools and oversized looms were provided to weavers to produce these custom-made carpets.

Antique Ziegler Sultanabad carpets feature both all-over floral motifs and central medallion patterns in soft colors and a higher pile. Designs are symmetrical and balanced, creating a feeling of spaciousness in the field with proportionally pleasing borders.

Zieglers were produced until the 1920s, when the world-wide economic depression affected consumer markets. In order to rescue the depressed market and continue employment for weavers, the Iran Carpet Company stepped in to oversee production in the area.