.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The knot count measures approximately 12V x 11H knots per cm. sq.
Worked within the metal thread ground of a flowering palmette along the lower vertical axis from which the design emanates, there is a small stylised marking in kufic maze script that is similar to the signature of Zareh, however it appears to contain the letters sin (or shin) lower left, and jim (or kha or ha) which is generally acknowledged to be that of Avedis Tamishjian. This master weaver is known to have worked for the merchant Nuh'negi, having set up his workshop in the 1920's and was most commonly associated with designs illustrating animal combat scenes (P. Bensoussan, 'Turkish Workshop Carpets', HALI, Issue 26, April/May/June 1985, pp.34-41, esp.p.38).
Since Tamishjian set up later than Zareh Penyamin, for him to have woven a rug with the design for which Zareh became best known must have been seen as competitive! The level of workmanship in the present rug is of a very fine quality. One can see from the reverse that the colours, when first woven, were richly saturated but have softened with time. A notable difference in the drawing of the Tamishjian cartoon from that of Zareh is the way the leafy scrolling tendrils are allowed to trail elements over the inscriptions in the upper border rather than having the inscription cut through them.
Although relatively few signed works by Tamishjian have appeared on the market, two silk 'Sultan's Head' prayer rugs have sold in these Rooms, 6 April 2006, lot 109 and another on 5 April 2011, lot 21. Another small mat by the same weaver was sold Christie's London, 11 October 1990, lot 13, where the illustration just enables the signature to be legible, albeit inverted. That particular mat was studied by George Farrow and published, G. Farrow, 'Irrelevant Rubbish', letter in HALI 55, February 1991, p.83.
Worked within the metal thread ground of a flowering palmette along the lower vertical axis from which the design emanates, there is a small stylised marking in kufic maze script that is similar to the signature of Zareh, however it appears to contain the letters sin (or shin) lower left, and jim (or kha or ha) which is generally acknowledged to be that of Avedis Tamishjian. This master weaver is known to have worked for the merchant Nuh'negi, having set up his workshop in the 1920's and was most commonly associated with designs illustrating animal combat scenes (P. Bensoussan, 'Turkish Workshop Carpets', HALI, Issue 26, April/May/June 1985, pp.34-41, esp.p.38).
Since Tamishjian set up later than Zareh Penyamin, for him to have woven a rug with the design for which Zareh became best known must have been seen as competitive! The level of workmanship in the present rug is of a very fine quality. One can see from the reverse that the colours, when first woven, were richly saturated but have softened with time. A notable difference in the drawing of the Tamishjian cartoon from that of Zareh is the way the leafy scrolling tendrils are allowed to trail elements over the inscriptions in the upper border rather than having the inscription cut through them.
Although relatively few signed works by Tamishjian have appeared on the market, two silk 'Sultan's Head' prayer rugs have sold in these Rooms, 6 April 2006, lot 109 and another on 5 April 2011, lot 21. Another small mat by the same weaver was sold Christie's London, 11 October 1990, lot 13, where the illustration just enables the signature to be legible, albeit inverted. That particular mat was studied by George Farrow and published, G. Farrow, 'Irrelevant Rubbish', letter in HALI 55, February 1991, p.83.