ENGLAND, PROBABLY WILTON, CIRCA 1860

Details

AN AXMINSTER CARPET
ENGLAND, PROBABLY WILTON, CIRCA 1860
The rich red field dominated by a large ivory central stepped and lobed linked floral panel containing a light blue medallion with floral bouquets and ribbons enclosing a flowering bouquet centrepiece, in a light brown border containing floral bouquets divided by the arms of the Russian Sheremet'ev family in each corner between light blue and wreath stripes, plain outer stripe, minute surface stains, supple structure
10ft. 5in. x 10ft. 10in. (317cm. x 329cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The enormously influential Sheremet'ev family traces its ancestry back to the fourteenth century. It became very powerful under Peter the Great in the 17th century and continued to serve the Romanov family through the succeeding years. Before the reforms of 1861 the family owned about 300,000 serfs and over 2 million acres, including the land on which Moscow Airport is now built, hence its name. Count Dimitri Nicolaievich Sheremet'ev (1803-1874) is the most probable member of the family to have commissioned this carpet and its pair in the next lot; he was thought to be the wealthiest private man in Europe at the time.
For a discussion on Axminster carpets see the footnotes to lots 127 and 131.

More from Important European Furniture,Tapestries, Carpets & Porcelain

View All