ATTRIBUTABLE TO HAGOP KAPOUDJIAN, ISTANBUL, TURKEY, CIRCA 1920

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

Hagop Kapoudjian's knowledge of classical rugs was not only derived from printed publications: later in his career he worked as a restorer, completing commissions for collectors like Calouste Gulbenkian and Hagop Kevorkian. In around 1938, he also travelled to Meshed for a brief stint repairing carpets there at the behest of the Iranian government. Farrow collected many of the letters which Hagop exchanged with these patrons, giving insight into the type of commission which Hagop carried out. A document dated 23 December 1935, records that Hagop received in his Rue Saint-Lazare shop fragments of a burnt Safavid 'Polonaise' rug. Over six months later, on the 27th July 1936, he had woven the fragments together into one complete rug. Such a task would have required great skill, and given Hagop unparalleled insight into the structure of a Polonaise rug and the composition of its decoration.

In his 1995 collection catalogue, Farrow records a conversation with Karnik Keshishian who recalled Hagop making a silk carpet of 'Polonaise' design as a 'gift to Armenia'. The memory gives an insight into the practices of the Koum Kapi workshop: Hagop engaged three weavers, the names of two of which are recorded as Macqui and Vartqui, to weave the silk pile, while a third - Louisa Doladjian - completed the metal-thread highlights.

Farrow attributed this rug to Hagop based on its quality, as well as a motif within the saz leaves which he interpreted as the Armenian letter which begins Hagop's name. Another Koum Kapi of 'Polonaise' design from Farrow's collection was sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2024, lot 184.