Photo by Rachel Buth
In many cultures, a carpet means more than floor covering. A carpet is a piece of home for the wanderer, a place of prayer for the faithful, an expression of cultural identity, a work of art. Oriental carpets originating in Persia, the Fertile Crescent, the Caucasus and Anatolia have been prized for centuries in Europe and the New World for their rich color and design. They cover floors with beauty. They are art you can sit or stand on.
In Milwaukee, the Shabahang family became the most familiar name in Oriental carpets after their arrival in the 1980s. Off the Cuff sat down, on a pile of carpets, to discuss the rug trade with Bruce Shabahang.
Has your family been dealing in carpets for many generations?
My great-grandfather started the business. My father [Jalal] always had a passion for fine rugs. My brother [Behzad] and I grew up in the business—we were born on rugs, almost literally. It was natural for us to become part of the business.
You family came from Iran?
We left shortly after the revolution—there was chaos and then war with Iraq. We lived in Isfahan, a beautiful city known for its artists and music. Some of the finest carpets in the world are made there.
But you can’t import them because of the U.S. trade embargo.
That’s correct. I still go back to Isfahan to spend time with my family. I would love someday to bring back a piece of art from my country and share it with the U.S.
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Where are your sources for the carpets you sell?
We have contacts all over the world, families of artisans in Pakistan, India, China, Turkey, Uzbekistan. We travel around the world to buy fine rugs. Most dealers go through wholesalers. We don’t deal much with them. The quality from wholesalers is not always good and buying directly from the artisans helps us keep prices down.
Do you determine the carpet designs or do you buy what the artisans make?
The best rugs are made by the artists who have passion for their work—we let them use their own creativity for the patterns and designs. However, if a customer wants a custom rug, we can arrange for that to happen.
We buy both city and village rugs. The city rugs have detailed symmetries—the artists follow a pattern or graph. Some of those rugs couldn’t be woven without a pattern—they may have 500-600 knots per square inch. Village or tribal rugs are woven without blueprints. Everything is free style—the imagination in the heart of the weaver is brought to reality in the carpet. We buy many tribal rugs because each one is unique—one of a kind.
Have customer tastes changed since the ’80s?
Yes, what’s popular now is a contemporary look. We try to get rugs that fit that description. But what we are buying are patterns that have been woven for centuries—traditional styles of carpets that are more simple, more geometric in design, that go well with contemporary furniture and look good in condos and lofts.
On Friday, March 13, from 6-9 p.m. Shabahang & Sons, 601 E. Ogden Ave., will showcase new inventory with a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception. For more information, call 414-347-1300 or visit shabahangandsons.com.
