NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1880

Details

A PICTORIAL SILK HERIZ RUG
NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1880
Depicting Majnun in the wilderness, localised wear
8ft.9in. x 6ft.3in. (266cm. x 191cm.)

Provenance

With C. John Rare Rugs Ltd., London, 1987
George Farrow, personal catalogue, 1993

Further Details

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Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The knot count measures approximately 8V x 8H knots per cm. sq.

The story of Layla and Majnun follows a narrative arc which has become familiar across cultures thanks to the efforts of writers and artists who have reinterpreted the story. In Nizami's poem, Qays is a young man who is driven to madness when he cannot marry his beloved Leyla. Other members of his tribe dub him Majnun, the one who is possessed by jinn. He wanders the desert pining for her, even after her death shortly after she married another man. In this rug, Majnun - clad in rags - sits amid wild animals, lost in contemplation. Beside him is a gravestone upon which the name Layla is inscribed.

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