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Lot Essay
The knot counts measures 9V x 7H per cm. sq.
There are repeats of an unrecorded, probably modern couplet in Persian and a further hemistich on the sky-blue ground on the arch pillars, kham-i taqash ba-san-i taq-i bustan / zi gul u zi lala mananad-i gulistan // negar-khana-i chin naqsh-i arzhang, ’The dome of his arch is in the manner of Taq-i Bustan / By way of roses and tulips like a flower garden’ // 'The idol house of China, the design of Arzhang'
The arch at Taq-i Bustan refers to the man-made barrel-vaulted hall made for the Sasanian King Shapur III (383-388) outside Kirmanshah. While some inscriptions on silk Heriz rugs refer to motifs of the carpet and others include the names of the weavers or designers (for examples from the George Farrow Collection, sold in these Rooms 24 October 2024, lot 266, and 25 Apr 2024, lot 202), it is unusual to see both as on this rug. Arzhang could also refer to the illustrated holy book of the third century Manichean prophet Mani or a demon from Firdawsi's Shahnama, both of which seem improbable.
There are repeats of an unrecorded, probably modern couplet in Persian and a further hemistich on the sky-blue ground on the arch pillars, kham-i taqash ba-san-i taq-i bustan / zi gul u zi lala mananad-i gulistan // negar-khana-i chin naqsh-i arzhang, ’The dome of his arch is in the manner of Taq-i Bustan / By way of roses and tulips like a flower garden’ // 'The idol house of China, the design of Arzhang'
The arch at Taq-i Bustan refers to the man-made barrel-vaulted hall made for the Sasanian King Shapur III (383-388) outside Kirmanshah. While some inscriptions on silk Heriz rugs refer to motifs of the carpet and others include the names of the weavers or designers (for examples from the George Farrow Collection, sold in these Rooms 24 October 2024, lot 266, and 25 Apr 2024, lot 202), it is unusual to see both as on this rug. Arzhang could also refer to the illustrated holy book of the third century Manichean prophet Mani or a demon from Firdawsi's Shahnama, both of which seem improbable.