Lot Essay
Remarkably little has been written on Russian carpets. Depictions of Russian interiors of the late 19th century do not include such weavings. Yet there is a clear group of fine quality pile weavings comparable to the present example, all of which are single-wefted, and usually on a black ground.
A spectacular example of the group was formerly at Leeds Castle, Kent, whose reputed provenance carried it back to the period of Catherine the Great (1762-1796), (Sotheby's London, 16 October 1996, lot 179). General opinion is that they were woven in the Ukraine, although the precise location has not been identified in Western literature on the subject. Pile carpets were also woven at the Imperial Tapestry Factory outside St. Petersburg, from the period of Catherine the Great until the middle of the nineteenth century (Polovtsoff, A.A. and Chambers, V.E.: 'Some notes on the St. Petersburg Tapestry Works', Burlington Magazine 34, no.195, June 1919, pp.243-46). Although none appear to have been attributed with any certainty to this workshop, it is probable that their designs were, like those of the tapestries and flatwoven carpets produced at the same workshops, much more strongly influenced by the French neoclassical style (Sherill, Sally B.: Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, New York, 1996, pp.280-282).
A pile carpet with identical border to that found here but a more Persian feel to the field with a medallion design, was attributed to the Ukraine and sold at Sotheby's, London (13 April 1988, lot 108).
A spectacular example of the group was formerly at Leeds Castle, Kent, whose reputed provenance carried it back to the period of Catherine the Great (1762-1796), (Sotheby's London, 16 October 1996, lot 179). General opinion is that they were woven in the Ukraine, although the precise location has not been identified in Western literature on the subject. Pile carpets were also woven at the Imperial Tapestry Factory outside St. Petersburg, from the period of Catherine the Great until the middle of the nineteenth century (Polovtsoff, A.A. and Chambers, V.E.: 'Some notes on the St. Petersburg Tapestry Works', Burlington Magazine 34, no.195, June 1919, pp.243-46). Although none appear to have been attributed with any certainty to this workshop, it is probable that their designs were, like those of the tapestries and flatwoven carpets produced at the same workshops, much more strongly influenced by the French neoclassical style (Sherill, Sally B.: Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, New York, 1996, pp.280-282).
A pile carpet with identical border to that found here but a more Persian feel to the field with a medallion design, was attributed to the Ukraine and sold at Sotheby's, London (13 April 1988, lot 108).