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Lot Essay
The knot count measures approximately 11V x 10H knots per cm.sq.
The densely-packed animal combat groups which populate the field of this rug find close parallels in Safavid carpets, such as the famous 'Emperor's Carpet' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.43.121.1). The design of this rug is directional, with a network of swirling tendrils issuing from a central stem. This is similar to a cartoon which appears on Koum Kapi rugs including one sold in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot 258, and another in Christie's New York, 22 August 2018, lot 394. However, this rug is finer than either of those, and the drawing far more intricate. A closer parallel can be drawn with a rug in the Arkas collection which, though it does not have the same spiralling stems, has a similar directionality and vertical symmetry to our rug, as well as animals. The main border on that rug is also from an identical cartoon to ours, differing only in the exact palette used (Kum Kapi Rugs From the Arkas Collection, exhib.cat., Türk ve Islam Eserleri Museum, Istanbul, 2017 no.22, pp.74-5). In the catalogue, that rug is attributed to the workshop of Garabed Apelyan, suggesting this may also be his work.
The densely-packed animal combat groups which populate the field of this rug find close parallels in Safavid carpets, such as the famous 'Emperor's Carpet' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.43.121.1). The design of this rug is directional, with a network of swirling tendrils issuing from a central stem. This is similar to a cartoon which appears on Koum Kapi rugs including one sold in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot 258, and another in Christie's New York, 22 August 2018, lot 394. However, this rug is finer than either of those, and the drawing far more intricate. A closer parallel can be drawn with a rug in the Arkas collection which, though it does not have the same spiralling stems, has a similar directionality and vertical symmetry to our rug, as well as animals. The main border on that rug is also from an identical cartoon to ours, differing only in the exact palette used (Kum Kapi Rugs From the Arkas Collection, exhib.cat., Türk ve Islam Eserleri Museum, Istanbul, 2017 no.22, pp.74-5). In the catalogue, that rug is attributed to the workshop of Garabed Apelyan, suggesting this may also be his work.