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Lot Essay
The knot count is approximately 7V x 8H per cm. sq.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kirmani carpet-weavers turned to European sources to inspire their pictorial designs. These two carpets are based on a Louis XIV Gobelins tapestry depicting 'La Danse d'une nymphe, de la droite’ in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, after a drawing by Raphael (1483-1520) (Standen, 1964, p.156, fig. 30). The scene depicts Pomona with Vertumnus in the guise of a faun, playing the pipes of the fertility god, Pan, in a verdant landscape evoking Arcadia, the idyllic home of Pan. Other Kirman rugs with this scene are known, for example a carpet depicting a mirrored version of this scene was sold at Christie’s, New York, 13 April 2017, lot 246. It is, however, rare to find an identical pair together, especially given their remarkable state of preservation and rich, vibrant colour palette.
Both of these carpets were woven by Muhammad bin Ja’far (1870-1910). It is purported that he was the father of Abdul Kasim Kirmani, another highly regarded Kirmani weaver associated with some of the finest weavings of this period. For further pictorial carpets by our weaver see Christie’s, London, 15 April 2010, lot 87 and 10 April 2008, lot 158.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kirmani carpet-weavers turned to European sources to inspire their pictorial designs. These two carpets are based on a Louis XIV Gobelins tapestry depicting 'La Danse d'une nymphe, de la droite’ in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, after a drawing by Raphael (1483-1520) (Standen, 1964, p.156, fig. 30). The scene depicts Pomona with Vertumnus in the guise of a faun, playing the pipes of the fertility god, Pan, in a verdant landscape evoking Arcadia, the idyllic home of Pan. Other Kirman rugs with this scene are known, for example a carpet depicting a mirrored version of this scene was sold at Christie’s, New York, 13 April 2017, lot 246. It is, however, rare to find an identical pair together, especially given their remarkable state of preservation and rich, vibrant colour palette.
Both of these carpets were woven by Muhammad bin Ja’far (1870-1910). It is purported that he was the father of Abdul Kasim Kirmani, another highly regarded Kirmani weaver associated with some of the finest weavings of this period. For further pictorial carpets by our weaver see Christie’s, London, 15 April 2010, lot 87 and 10 April 2008, lot 158.