Lot Essay
Lavish carpet reference books, such as the present two volumes, exposed weavers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the Classical traditions of the magnificent designs of Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman carpets. The 16th century Persian carpet illustrated here, (Vol I, pl.18), which also appears in the reference book by F. R. Martin, History of Oriental Carpets, 1908, p.80, fig.194, relates to lot 103 in the present sale but also went on to inspire later revivals as seen in the north west Persian, PETAG Tabriz carpet, (lot 158) in the present sale.