Looking forward to seeing you again next year.

They are from a very limited production by Qashquli weavers (designed and signed by Hossein Zadeh) members of one of the Qashqai tribes of the Fars Province in Southern Iran.

They are from a very limited production by Qashquli weavers (designed and signed by Hossein Zadeh) members of one of the Qashqai tribes of the Fars Province in Southern Iran.

Finely knotted in excellent quality wool, the rich colours and unique designs are quite stunning.

Available in the shop now in sizes 36 to 42, they are all individual in design, made in Istanbul from Suzani silk embroideries and priced at £159.

Martin was spotted here, studying form and taking it easy, as usual!

Made by Afghan and Turkoman weavers in Tajikistan, they are varied, though similar, traditional Turkoman designs and all feature the classic “Russian Red” colour.
The Russian word for red – красный (krásnyj) – was also the ancient Russian word for beautiful, which we think describes this colour perfectly. But don’t just take our word for it and don’t rely too much on these photographs (David Bailey was unavailable) come in and see for yourselves…

Available in many sizes from 1.25m x 0.75m up to 3m x 2m as well as short and long runners.

A fine Afghan Kazak, measuring 11’4 x 4’1 (3.45m x 1.24m) in beautiful colours and a bold geometric design.

Email reply: 7th May

Dear Mrs Mander

Thank you for your delightful letter. We’re glad to know that our magazine advert brought back such happy memories for you. 

Jack and Margaret Jennings have retired now but still live in Tewkesbury and their daughter Clare continues to run the business so it’s still in the family after more than 50 years. 

In the photo of the two smaller kilims, the one on the left (08-6091) measures 3’0 x 2’2 and costs £60, including postage. The one on the right (08-6566) measures 2’10 x 1’11 and the price is £55, including postage. 

The two larger kilims are 08-6573 (4’0 x 2’9) and 08-6094 (4’1 x 2’8) and the price for either would be just over your budget at £105, including postage. 

Please let us know if any of these would be suitable and we will despatch it to you immediately for your approval. If you decided to keep it we would be happy to accept payment by debit or credit card over the telephone or by cheque in the post. 

We look forward to hearing from you and hope that your visit to the dentist was not too much of an ordeal for you! 

Kind regards
Martin Dale
Senior Sales Advisor 

Mrs Mander’s email: 10th May

Dear Mr. Dale,

 Thank you so much for your colourful reply to my enquiry and I would love to have the kelim on the left at a price of £60.
I shall send off my cheque to you this very day and look forward to receiving my very own Jennings rug.  It will mean so much to me.
Thank you for bringing me up to date with news from Tewkesbury, and long may your lovely shop continue to brighten the town.  I can see it now in my mind’s eye.  

Yours sincerely, Eileen Mander

Our response: 12th May

Dear Mrs Mander 

Thank you very much for the cheque, which we received today. The kilim is in the post and should be with you very shortly. 

Would you please be good enough to inform us when it arrives and let us know if you are completely happy with it? 

We have included foxi underlay which is not essential but will help keep the kilim in place if you choose to use it. It is not fixed to the kilim as it works a little like Velcro and will simply peel off if you prefer. 

Thank you also for the lovely postcard which now adorns the office wall.

We wondered if you would consent to using our correspondence as an item on our website? As you may have noticed from our news page, we like to keep visitors to the website informed of events and your enquiry and subsequent purchase would be as much of a delight to our customers as it was to us. We would fully understand if you prefer to remain anonymous (we wouldn’t want the paparazzi to be camping outside your house when you become famous!) and would only publish your letter and email with your permission.

We sincerely hope that the kilim gives you long-lasting pleasure and look forward to hearing from you again. 

Kind regards
Martin

Mrs Mander’s reply: 14th May

Dear Martin, Let us be informal.  I am pleased to tell you that your parcel arrived safely on Friday afternoon and I am delighted with it.  Our postie was obviously intruiged when he delivered it, especially when he saw the three camels on your label!  I felt I had to enlighten him in case he wondered about the contents!  Such an exotic cargo to a Scottish island. 

I am so happy with the rug and with the underlay and the other enclosures, particularly with the information of its origin.  That was really important to me.  What nimble fingers those young girls have, what dedication to their art.  I got down on my knees to inspect it closely and to run my hands across the weave.  I held it up to the light to see the slits of the kelim technique.  The blue dye is surely indigo – I have used it myself and marvel at the magic when the dye oxidises when lifted from the dye bath and turns blue before your eyes.  I wonder if the red is madder.  This dye too I have used.  I remember going with our guild to a firm of rug specialists, who did repairs, in Cirencester.  I think it was in Dollar Street.  I mentioned that I had some hand-spun madder dyed wool and I gave it to them.  They were very happy to accept.

I am flattered by your paragraph on our correspondence for your website  Of course you may use it, with pleasure! 

Once again, my grateful thanks to Jennings of Tewkesbury, they have ticked all the boxes for me.

Kind regards

Eileen