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Lot Essay
The inscription cartouche read, farmayesh-i ‘ayn lam qarajehdaqi, 'Ordered by 'A. L. Qarajehdaqi'
A Sultanabad carpet commissioned by A. L. Qarajehdaqi, of similar dimensions and with a similarly bold inscription overlaying the cartoon of the carpet, was sold at Christie’s, New York, as part of the Hascoe Family Collection, 18 November 2014, lot 222. Qarajehdaqi is a name one may associate with the Qajar court, as Muhammad-Jafar Qarajehdaqi (d. AH 1310⁄1892-3 AD) was an important intellectual, secretary, and translator from Russian and Turkish. He worked for the historian Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza (1827-72) and in Nasir al-Din Shah's (r.1848-96) Ministry of Publications. His name suggests descent from the mountainous region between the Aras River and the mountains of Qaradagh in North West Iran. Could it refer to a relative named Ali Lutfi or ‘Abd al-Latif?
Either way, signing one's name with two initials would have been unusual and Europeanised in late 19th-century Iran. The carpet's handle, however, definitely points to that period. Qarajehdaqi was presumably familiar with European taste, as similar elongated border cartouches were used in contemporary Ziegler carpets as well, such as one sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2014, lot 41.
A Sultanabad carpet commissioned by A. L. Qarajehdaqi, of similar dimensions and with a similarly bold inscription overlaying the cartoon of the carpet, was sold at Christie’s, New York, as part of the Hascoe Family Collection, 18 November 2014, lot 222. Qarajehdaqi is a name one may associate with the Qajar court, as Muhammad-Jafar Qarajehdaqi (d. AH 1310⁄1892-3 AD) was an important intellectual, secretary, and translator from Russian and Turkish. He worked for the historian Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza (1827-72) and in Nasir al-Din Shah's (r.1848-96) Ministry of Publications. His name suggests descent from the mountainous region between the Aras River and the mountains of Qaradagh in North West Iran. Could it refer to a relative named Ali Lutfi or ‘Abd al-Latif?
Either way, signing one's name with two initials would have been unusual and Europeanised in late 19th-century Iran. The carpet's handle, however, definitely points to that period. Qarajehdaqi was presumably familiar with European taste, as similar elongated border cartouches were used in contemporary Ziegler carpets as well, such as one sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2014, lot 41.