LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Another Kuba with the same design was offered at Rippon Boswell, 11 May 1996, lot 132. The Rippon example has the same field design as the lot offered here but it is repeated twice. The same stylized thick hooked vinery border motif is employed in both examples and in our rug, it creates a strong and dominant frame around the somewhat enlarged field repeat. Our example has a harmonious and mellow color combination in the trellis with coexists well with and floats upon the striated sky blue field. The design of palmettes flanked by serrated leaves is derived from early 18th century Kuba carpets but has been rendered in a less archaic way (see Hermann, Eberhart, Seltene Orientteppiche III, no.50 for an 18th century example).