Lot Essay
Rugs from East Turkestan have encouraged a great deal of debate concerning their exact origin of production. The present rug falls basically falls into the "Herat" floral style group outlined by Hans Bidder (see Carpets from Eastern Turkestan, Maryland, 1979, pp. 74-78) where the weaver is adapting Persian and Indian design motifs. Although a somewhat attenuated manipulation of the Persian herati design there is also evidence of the ubiquitous Pomegranate design in the ramified flowering stems and their placement in the Mikaeloff example. One can also discern an Indian influence by the latticework created by various blossoms common in Mughal Indian carpets of this period and earlier (see lot 164 for a related example). The use of a triad of unidentifiable blossoms in our example is analogous to Mughal carpets and their depiction of three blossoms of each specific plant within the lattice framework.