It is easy to see why this was purchased as a Samarkand carpet: the overall tonality and the regular procession of rosettes across the carpet with in a floral lattice can all be seen in East Turkestan examples. An example with a similar bichromatic colour scheme, albeit black and blue, is illustrated in Gantzhorn (Volkmar: The Christian Oriental Carpet, Cologne, 1991, p.474, ill.668). Structurally however the carpet has all the features of Khorassani weavings. The soft wool, and assymmetric knotting occasionally jufti-knotted, combine with superbly controlled drawing to make a North East Persian origin certain. The design is a complex lattice which has various points in common with the afshan pattern, notably the use of rosettes as focuses for the design. This design is normally found in the Caucasus (c.f Gantzhorn, Volkmar: op.cit, p.348, ill.478 for a good example in the Sardarabad-Hoktemberian Ethnographic Museum of Armenia, Erivan which also shares with the present carpet a blue and yellow reciprocal skittle-pattern border.)
That there are strong but as yet unclarified links between the carpets of East Turkestan and those of Persia is well-known from the millfleurs group (cf. lots 95, 96 and 181). As with the pashmina carpets, there is some discussion about the placing of the 'in-between' groups. A possible Indian motif in the present carpet is the outlining in darker blue of the light blue motifs. This juxtaposition of two shades of the same colour is a feature of some seventeenth century Indian carpets, never normally appearing in contemporary Persian weaving.