WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1880

Details

AN UNUSUAL SILK SULTANABAD RUG
WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1880
Mostly in full pile with minor touches of light localised wear, a couple of minute repairs, overall good condition
5ft.1in. x 3ft.6in. (157cm. x 109cm.)

Special notice

Specifed lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s, 8 King Street, London SW1Y 6QT by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Crown Fine Art (details below). Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent ofsite. If the lot is transferred to Crown Fine Art, it will be available for collection from 12.00 pm on the second business day following the sale. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crown Fine Art. All collections from Crown Fine Art will be by prebooked appointment only. The USA prohibits the purchase by US persons of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments. The US sanctions apply to US persons regardless of the location of the transaction or the shipping intentions of the US person. For this reason, Christie’s will not accept bids by US persons on this lot. Non-US persons wishing to import this lot into the USA are advised that they will need to apply for an OFAC licence and that this can take many months to be granted.

Brought to you by

Barney Bartlett Junior Specialist

bbartlett@christies.com +44 (0) 791 769 5730

Lot Essay

The knot count measures approximately 6H x 5V per cm sq.

This elegant rug is an unusual example woven in silk from the Sultanabad region. Very few silk rugs and carpets from the region are known, although Annette Ittig attributes one silk medallion rug to Ziegler on account of its close similarity with a Ziegler cartoon (Annette Ittig, ‘Ziegler’s Carpet Cartoons’, in HALI, no.80, 1995, pp.82-87, p.84). This rug retains the palette of powder blue and apricot-orange reminiscent of a Sultanabad carpet recently sold in these Rooms, 28 October 2021, lot 216. Woven on a smaller scale, it nonetheless retains the wide proportions of the border, relatively bold scale drawing of the floral lattice, and narrow blue outer stripe, all typical features of Sultanabad weaving.

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