CENTRAL PERSIA, MID 17TH CENTURY

The carpets of Isfahan were produced in great quantites for export to Europe, and for the first half of the seventeenth century there was a continuous demand. Yet within the group there were a number of variations. The present example has joined the spiralling tendrils with a considerably more angular design, thus enclosing each spiral in its own compartment formed of paired tendrils. It is possible that this rare feature was imported as an idea from Kirman where the designers used comparable features. The second generation of "vase" carpets in particular renders the three plane lattice in a more angular manner which gives rise to the vertical paired tendrils running through the carpet in the same way as is seen here. A slightly earlier Isfahan carpet displaying the same features as are shown here but not as rigidly delineated within a very similar border was sold in Paris (St. Cyr, 23 June 1982, lot 12; Hali vol.5, no.1, auction price guide, p.74).