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Lot Essay
The cartoon of this pictorial rug draws inspiration from earlier illuminated Persian manuscripts depicting the figure of the Queen of Sheba. An example depicting Sheba enthroned, surrounded by animals and seated beneath a flying mythical bird (simurgh) is seen on a Safavid illustrated frontispiece of Hafiz, AH 946 / 1539 AD, from the Walters manuscript, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (W.631).
Both the ivory wool in the background of the scene as well as the caramel-brown ground of the border have been shaved to a lower level than the rest of the rug, in order to help enhance certain elements of the design adding a painterly quality to the scene and throwing the design into relief. The same technique is employed on a 'Mohtasham' rug with a closely related pictorial design that sold in these Rooms, 5 April 2011, lot 70.
Both the ivory wool in the background of the scene as well as the caramel-brown ground of the border have been shaved to a lower level than the rest of the rug, in order to help enhance certain elements of the design adding a painterly quality to the scene and throwing the design into relief. The same technique is employed on a 'Mohtasham' rug with a closely related pictorial design that sold in these Rooms, 5 April 2011, lot 70.