NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1870

The knot count measures approximately 7V x 7H per cm. sq.

Precious silk rugs such as the present rug were never produced in great numbers; rather they were unique pieces often woven as specific commissions by members of the Persian upper class and woven to individual designs by carpet artists. They were perceived as one of the most explicit ways of displaying wealth and status and were frequently given as Nowruz gifts to celebrate the start of the new year. The execution and quality of this silk Persian prayer rug is difficult to appreciate from a photograph, as is the suppleness of its handle, depth of pile and clarity of colour in the dyes. The design, centralised by the billowing leafy 'Tree of Life' is framed by slender vertical columns with decorative capitals and flourishing arabesques within the mihrab, which appear on a comparable prayer rug sold in these Rooms, 16 April 2007, lot 65. Both examples were clearly woven in an accomplished workshop by a master weaver.