Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Bahram Javadi-Babreh, proprietor of Thames Carpets in Oxfordshire, is not only an expert in his trade. \u201cI am an artist,\u201d he says casually, sitting in the office of his workshop, situated in the village of Wheatley. It\u2019s a well-earned title. Born in north-western Iran, Javadi-Babreh has been weaving since the age of four. As a child, he would be hidden away when inspectors searching for underage labourers came to the factory where\u00a0he worked. Today, evidence of his artistry is\u00a0visible on every surface of the workshop: thousands of handmade carpets that he has\u00a0sourced, repaired, or had woven in Iranian and Azeri workshops.The shop came to him serendipitously. After moving to England to study engineering in 1978, just before Iran erupted into revolution, he started carpet weaving and restoration as a way to survive\u00a0in a new country. The former owners of Thames Carpets contacted him when they needed to replicate a signature that had accidentally been removed from a rug; he was the only person in the country who could re-weave it. They began working together and, in 2001, the business was given to Bahram when they retired.For the past 10 years, Bahram has run the shop with a partner: his daughter. Sophie studied performing arts in London but soon realised her dad\u2019s work was actually \u201creally cool\u201d. She now manages the stock and accounts, meets new clients and runs their social media, while her father splits his time between the UK and Iran.\u00a0Sophie typically advises people by asking for a description of what they\u2019re looking for before narrowing down options from the thousands of pieces in the Thames Carpets inventory. They also plan to display a curated selection in a gallery space in Henley that is due to open this summer.\u00a0150 years ago, everyone was making great rugsTheir stock is sourced from Iran, the UK and Europe, via auction houses and estate sales, but they also sell original rugs woven at the workshops in\u00a0Iran and Azerbaijan, under Bahram\u2019s direction. Their pictorial rugs are especially mesmerising. Hanging in the workshop is an early-20th-century Iranian rug depicting a girl called Sara from an Azerbaijani folk song (\u00a312,000). Another 20th-century Iranian design shows the four\u00a0seasons of Persia (\u00a34,200). But Sophie\u00a0assures me it is possible to find something that will last a long time for less\u00a0than \u00a31,000: a gentle, green-hued needlepoint from Greece (sold for \u00a3180), for instance, or an intricate 20th-century silk Persian rug (\u00a3650). They also offer a repair and cleaning service.\u00a0There is a common misconception that the best rugs come from certain countries. Yes, Iranian rugs are beautiful, says Sophie, but you can find equally lovely options from England, India, Sweden, Turkey, Nepal and Ukraine. The time period in which it was made is what matters most. \u201c150 years ago, everyone was making great rugs,\u201d explains Bahram, who laments the more modern use\u00a0of synthetic fibres: \u201cThey should send the guy making them to prison!\u201d You can easily spot a handmade rug, Sophie notes, because the design will match on the front and back, the fringe won\u2019t be tacked on,\u00a0and the knots will all be\u00a0slightly different.The father and daughter make for a strong team, combining Bahram\u2019s \u201cfree spirit\u201d, as Sophie describes it, and her own boundless passion that is ploughed into their ever-growing social media presence. \u201cRugs are meant to be lived on,\u201d Sophie says. A good rug, made with quality materials and natural dyes, should last hundreds of years. To prove the point, Bahram once ran an experiment where he buried a rug for a week, dug it back up, dropped some coals on it, ran a digger over it and then cleaned it. The result? Someone came in the other week wanting to buy it. \u00a0Thames Carpets, Broadway House, Newtown Rd, Henley-on-Thames; thamescarpets.co.uk; @thamescarpets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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