KHORASSAN, NORTH EAST PERSIA, CIRCA 1880

The long, soft wool used in the present lot has a lustrous shine which is typical of the fleece of the Moghanli sheep. The flocks had been herded by the Afshar tribe from Azerbaijan when they were resettled in Khorassan, along with the Kurds, in 1602 by Shah Abbas, ('Kordi: Lives, Rugs, Flatweaves of the Kurds in Khorasan', Adil Besim Exhibition, Hali, 41, 1988, p.98-99). In an article; 'Kordi without Tears', Hali, 111, 2000, pp.59-61, Ulrich Ahlheim discusses the various attributes he associates with Kurdish carpets. He notes that there were typically three main size formats, the largest of which is the "Main" carpet into which the present lot falls, which were normally used as floor coverings for special occassions. Their designs vary and are sometimes difficult to attribute as the Kurds were influenced by a number of sources from Anatolia, the Caucasus and Turkmenistan. The vertical striped field of the present lot is a design which is frequently used by the Kurds, particularly in combination with the stepped reciprocal skittle-pattern. A similar rug was offered in these Rooms, 29 April 2004, lot 68.