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Lot Essay
This fragment demonstrates the exquisite skill of the weavers in the royal workshops of Isfahan in the late sixteenth century. Woven very finely, on silk warps, with very soft lustrous wool for most of the rich colours and cotton for the very white parts, the design uses considerable amounts of silver thread, particularly for the palmettes and cloudband-motifs. The shimmering effect when it was first made must have created exactly the intended purpose of dazzling the viewer at a time when Shah 'Abbas was rapidly enhancing and opening up his capital to visitors from foreign countries.
Its design must originally have been very similar to that of a carpet formerly in the Rothschild Collection, sold in these Rooms 17th October 1996, lot 404. That example was impressive, but the present one would have been even more so with its addition of extra materials in the design.
Its design must originally have been very similar to that of a carpet formerly in the Rothschild Collection, sold in these Rooms 17th October 1996, lot 404. That example was impressive, but the present one would have been even more so with its addition of extra materials in the design.