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Lot Essay
The design and quality of this fine rug is associated with the highest quality weavings produced in Heriz during the Qajar period. The design, which is perhaps more commonly associated with silk weavings from the area, is woven using a finely spun, lustrous wool with a glossy lustre. The symmetrical knotting is tightly packed on a white cotton foundation. The ascending leafy, flowering plant that fills the open ivory ground has broad branches, some of which terminate with what resemble fantastical and grotesque heads of birds and animals, otherwise known as the waq-waq design. An historical decorative motif, originating around the 11th century, the waq-waq features surreal scenes of human, animal, and mythical creature heads blooming as fruits on branches. Derived from Persian and Arabic legends of a talking tree, this motif was widely used in medieval art, including manuscript illumination, textiles, and ceramics.
A comparable Heriz carpet that similarly juxtaposes a royal blue border against a plain indigo outer stripe, and which was likely drawn by the same designer and woven in the same workshop as our carpet, is in the James D. Burns collection (J. Burns, Visions of Nature, Iceland, 2010, pp.44-5, pl.5). Burns notes that Heriz carpets of this date have a very different handle to later 19th century weaving, being noticeably more supple, which is certainly the case with our carpet.
A comparable Heriz carpet that similarly juxtaposes a royal blue border against a plain indigo outer stripe, and which was likely drawn by the same designer and woven in the same workshop as our carpet, is in the James D. Burns collection (J. Burns, Visions of Nature, Iceland, 2010, pp.44-5, pl.5). Burns notes that Heriz carpets of this date have a very different handle to later 19th century weaving, being noticeably more supple, which is certainly the case with our carpet.