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Lot Essay
The approx. knot count is 9H x 9V per sq. cm.
The two upper inscriptions in the inner side borders together read karkhane (the workshop of) Isma'il Aqa Baba Kashan.
By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the Aqa Baba family was well-known in Kashan due to their specialisation in manufacturing silk rugs. They rank among the best carpet weavers in the city and used to sign their rugs in Persian rather than in Hebrew (Yahudi in Persian means Jew; Alberto Boralevi, "Collezzione E.M. Meschoulam", Hali, 1984, vol.6, no.2, p.199). Felton suggests that Isma'il Aqa Baba could well be a weaver who previously worked for Isma'il and Aba Yahudi who are named in the inscription cartouche of the following lot 131 in this catalogue, and then set up his own workshop, or that another family member was then in charge of the business in Kashan. The rug shows typical scenes of Persian life in the field with depictions of well-known legends especially the khamseh of Nizami in the border (op. cit., p.141). A pictorial silk rug woven in the same workshop, depicting Bahram Gur on horseback hunting, was sold in these Rooms 7 October 2010, lot 65.
The two upper inscriptions in the inner side borders together read karkhane (the workshop of) Isma'il Aqa Baba Kashan.
By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the Aqa Baba family was well-known in Kashan due to their specialisation in manufacturing silk rugs. They rank among the best carpet weavers in the city and used to sign their rugs in Persian rather than in Hebrew (Yahudi in Persian means Jew; Alberto Boralevi, "Collezzione E.M. Meschoulam", Hali, 1984, vol.6, no.2, p.199). Felton suggests that Isma'il Aqa Baba could well be a weaver who previously worked for Isma'il and Aba Yahudi who are named in the inscription cartouche of the following lot 131 in this catalogue, and then set up his own workshop, or that another family member was then in charge of the business in Kashan. The rug shows typical scenes of Persian life in the field with depictions of well-known legends especially the khamseh of Nizami in the border (op. cit., p.141). A pictorial silk rug woven in the same workshop, depicting Bahram Gur on horseback hunting, was sold in these Rooms 7 October 2010, lot 65.