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Lot Essay
An almost identical example, probably woven as the pair to this carpet, in similarly poor condition, was sold by the estate of Mr and Mrs Reginald Toms, Sotheby's, London, 7 June 1995, lot 134 and again at Sotheby's, New York, 1 October 2000, lot 416.
Both examples seems to retain many features of the seventeenth century floral carpets in the collection of the Maharaja of Jaipur; this may very well come from the same stable. Two unpublished carpets from that collection, while slightly earlier in design than the present examples, appear to show the design heading in the same direction. From a well-known early seventeenth century original type with clearly observed individual floral sprays, this design has been adapted into a lattice where each individual spray is not as important as the overall lattice effect. This effect is similar to that seen in a number of the smaller pashmina rugs of the same period (Walker, Daniel: Flowers Underfoot, New York, 1998, fig.122, p.125 for example). Whether the present carpet and its pair were woven in Lahore, one of the two suggested origins of the pashmina similar rug, and also the origin suggested for the pair to our rug when it appeared at auction, or whether they were woven at Jaipur, where there are a number of carpets with related design and structure, remains to be seen.
Both examples seems to retain many features of the seventeenth century floral carpets in the collection of the Maharaja of Jaipur; this may very well come from the same stable. Two unpublished carpets from that collection, while slightly earlier in design than the present examples, appear to show the design heading in the same direction. From a well-known early seventeenth century original type with clearly observed individual floral sprays, this design has been adapted into a lattice where each individual spray is not as important as the overall lattice effect. This effect is similar to that seen in a number of the smaller pashmina rugs of the same period (Walker, Daniel: Flowers Underfoot, New York, 1998, fig.122, p.125 for example). Whether the present carpet and its pair were woven in Lahore, one of the two suggested origins of the pashmina similar rug, and also the origin suggested for the pair to our rug when it appeared at auction, or whether they were woven at Jaipur, where there are a number of carpets with related design and structure, remains to be seen.