TARIM BASIN, CENTRAL ASIA, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Like the previous lot in the present sale, this silk carpet was woven in the far eastern oasis town of Kashgar within the Tarim Basin. In the 17th century Kashgar was ruled by members of the Mughal dynasty and consequently many of the designs were directly influenced by the silk foundation Mughal Indian lattice carpets of the seventeenth century, such as the fragmentary example in the Textile Museum, Washington (Daniel Walker, "Classical Indian Rugs," HALI, Vol. 4, no.3, 1982, p.256, fig. 7) and one which sold in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot 227. An unusually large silk and metal-thread carpet, considered to have been woven in Mongolia in the 16th century, is published in The V. and L. Benguiat Private Collection of Rare Old Rugs, American Art Association, New York, 1925, pl.70. There the field design is formed of a dense foliate lattice, more closely related to the Herati pattern which is contained within a narrow key-fret border. See also an interesting flower and foliate fragment with metal-thread brocading, 17/18th century, F. Spuhler, The Thyssen –Bornemisza Collection, Carpets and Textiles, London, 1998, p.191, (black and white) fig.1, private collection.

The formal lattice of earlier carpets has here been replaced with a foliate lattice field woven in soft, autumnal colours on a golden ground. A related silk and metal-thread Kashgar rug, formerly in the Mehdi collection, is published by Ulrich Schürmann, Central-Asian Rugs, 1969, pl.76. The field design of both rugs is based upon a repeat herati design but the present lot diverges from the simple repeat pattern by including staggered rows of trefoil 'sycamore' leaves alternating with lobed medallions. It seems that no exact copy of this design has survived as old Tarim Basin carpets are relatively rare and documentary evidence is practically non-existent. Considering its aesthetic quality a date in the latter half of the 18th century seems likely.