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Lot Essay
The inscription reads Amir Agha Khan, Sana (the year) 1315.
The inscription on this kelleh indicates that it was made for a tribal chief whose titles, Amir Aga Khan, have a similar ring to those of a number of the titles of nobility conferred by the Shah. Tribal leaders at the turn of the 19th/20th century had very considerable political power. The strength of Bakhtiari, on whose land oil had been discovered, and who ended up being major political power brokers at the end of the Qajar period, is well known. Tribal leaders from a number of tribes as well as the Bakhtiari were held in high esteem at court. An indication is the fact that, earlier in the century, among Fath 'Ali Shah's wives were Afshar, Shahsevan and even Goklan Turkman ladies. Tribal leaders in return were attracted by the opulence of life at court and at times emulated it. Qashqa'i rugs with designs that derive from urban rugs are well known, from the millefleurs prayer rugs that imitate early 19th century Fereghan and ultimately seventeenth century Mughal originals, to the rugs which depict the carved stone reliefs from Persepolis (Peter Wilhelm Meister, Axel von Saldern and Siywosch Azadi, Persische Teppiche, exhibition catalogue, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Frankfurt, 1971, no.91, pp.196-7). This extraordinary kelleh demonstrates a very similar fusion of urban and nomadic cultures. The design is clearly based on Malayir carpets such as one sold Sotheby's New York 13 December 2007, lot 220. The tribal interpretation is not just indicated by the braided warps and the tied knotted wool spaced along the banded selvages. It is in the choice of brilliant but never harsh colours, transforming the elegant Malayir original, (omitting the classic Malayir 'hot' red), into an intense riot of glorious brilliance, colours which today remain spectacularly undimmed.
The inscription on this kelleh indicates that it was made for a tribal chief whose titles, Amir Aga Khan, have a similar ring to those of a number of the titles of nobility conferred by the Shah. Tribal leaders at the turn of the 19th/20th century had very considerable political power. The strength of Bakhtiari, on whose land oil had been discovered, and who ended up being major political power brokers at the end of the Qajar period, is well known. Tribal leaders from a number of tribes as well as the Bakhtiari were held in high esteem at court. An indication is the fact that, earlier in the century, among Fath 'Ali Shah's wives were Afshar, Shahsevan and even Goklan Turkman ladies. Tribal leaders in return were attracted by the opulence of life at court and at times emulated it. Qashqa'i rugs with designs that derive from urban rugs are well known, from the millefleurs prayer rugs that imitate early 19th century Fereghan and ultimately seventeenth century Mughal originals, to the rugs which depict the carved stone reliefs from Persepolis (Peter Wilhelm Meister, Axel von Saldern and Siywosch Azadi, Persische Teppiche, exhibition catalogue, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Frankfurt, 1971, no.91, pp.196-7). This extraordinary kelleh demonstrates a very similar fusion of urban and nomadic cultures. The design is clearly based on Malayir carpets such as one sold Sotheby's New York 13 December 2007, lot 220. The tribal interpretation is not just indicated by the braided warps and the tied knotted wool spaced along the banded selvages. It is in the choice of brilliant but never harsh colours, transforming the elegant Malayir original, (omitting the classic Malayir 'hot' red), into an intense riot of glorious brilliance, colours which today remain spectacularly undimmed.