Property from the Corcoran Gallery of Art to Benefit the Acquisition Fund
AN ISFAHAN CARPET

CENTRAL PERSIA, 17TH CENTURY

Details
AN ISFAHAN CARPET
Central Persia, 17th Century
Approximately 26 ft. 6 in. (805 cm.) x 13 ft. 7 in. (414 cm.)
Provenance
Duke Don Gaetano de Braganza, Fourth Duke of Lafões (1856-1927), Italy.
William A. Clark, New York.
Literature
Illustrated Handbook of The W.A. Clark Collection, Washington, D.C., 1928, p. 73, p. 128.
G. Grosvenor, 'Washington Through the Years', The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. LX, No. 5, November 1931, pl. III.
'Carpets for the Great Shah', The Corcoran Gallery of Art Bulletin, Vol 2, No. 1, October 1948, p. 15, no. P13.
N. Eickel ed., and D.M. Hartwell, 'The Salon Doré in America: History and Restoration', The Salon Doré, Washington D.C., 1995, p. 52, pl. 7.
L. Coyle, and D. M. Hartwell, Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 2001, p. 18, fig. 6.

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Casey Rogers
Casey Rogers

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Lot Essay

This exquisite border of interlocking bracket leaf palmettes is very unusual and would have been difficult to execute, especially at the corners. Here the design remains perfectly consistent throughout. The lancet leaf plays an important role in the border structure as well as throughout the field. At times, the leaves in the field become so fluid that they appear almost as cloud bands. The layers of detail beginning with the dramatic contrast of indigo vinery against a deep wine field, continues with the multitude of floral and leaf specimens. This lot contains many similarities to lots 31 and 205 and it is likely that they were produced in the same workshop.

Another carpet with this interlocking leaf border was included in the Benguiat collection sale (The Private Collection of the Messsrs. Vitall and Leopold Benguiat, American Art Association, New York, November 1925, no. 35).

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