The Lion Rugs hand woven in the South of Iran ‘Persia hold many stories throughout the centuries. 
 
Iranians,Persians have known Lion Rugs since the 12th Century where they were first weaved for Royalty symbolizing The Kings Power.
Many centuries later the weavers continued the tradition by gifting them to Nomadic chiefmans as a symbol of Power within the tribe. 
 
The meaning behind the Lion Rugs then evolved into an engagement proposal, where if the creator (the woman) weaved the tail upwards then her answer was “yes" and weaved down the answer was a respectful “no".
 
The end result of the rug showed the mans role in the woman’s life and If she was very fond of the man, she would weave the background of the rug red, the most symbolic colour in a nomad’s life. 
 
These rugs are smaller in size for a reason, fitting into nomadic tents and easy to give as a present reveiling her answer before the nomads moved on. 
 
Typically these smaller rugs would take 4-5 months to weave as she had to weave her answer alone. 
All hand made on a loom, in vegetable dyed wool. 
Many of the woman weavers of these Lion Rugs drew on their imagination…their creators, they had almost never seen a real lion or could not even imagine one.
 
Thus the lions are depicted in unrealistic colours such as red, green and black & In unusual shapes with many of them showing expressions reminiscent of human faces
 
This Zollanvari Rug measures 1m x 0.75m 
Handwoven in 100% vegetable dyed, handspun, wool. 
One of a kind from Zollanvari Rugs : Cape Town, South Africa.