A FRAGMENTARY SILK WEFTED ISFAHAN CARPET

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A FRAGMENTARY SILK WEFTED ISFAHAN CARPET
CENTRAL PERSIA, LATE 16TH CENTURY

The burgundy field with a counterposed design of scrolling tendrils linking palmette and flowering vine together with large serrated leaves, palmettes and cloudband, in a broad sea-green border of scrolling palmette tendrils linking large alternating palmettes between inner reciprocal ochre and light blue flowering vine and outer pale apricot linked flowerhead stripes, composite from the same carpet, the field corroded and extensively tinted, small areas of repair, outer stripe a later addition
Approximately 10ft.8in. x 8ft.11in. (324cm. x 271cm.)

Warp: yellow silk, Z2S, slightly undulating and depressed
Weft: 3 shoots, pink cotton, Z2S
Pile: wool Z2, asymmetrical open to the left, H5.4 x V4.5/cm.
Literature
Alte Teppiche des 16.-18.Jahrhunderts der Firma L.Bernheimer, Munich, 1959, pl.67.

Lot Essay

This carpet is one of the group of spiralling tendril and palmette
carpets which is most surely attributed to Isfahan. With its silk
wefts and fully saturated colour scheme it typifies the earliest and
best of this very large and popular group. One small feature which can be seen here and serves further to link it to the Polonaise group which were also produced in Isfahan is the inner guard stripe. With its
meandering vine separating equal panels of light blue-green and apricot containing rosettes, is is very similar to the main border design of a number of 'Polonaise' carpets including lot 50 in the sale. See the introductory chapter for a further discussion of this group of
carpets (pp.

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