WEST PERSIA, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The strikingly primitive design of large-scale flaming palmettes is very unusual and is seen on a relatively small number of carpets produced in the village of Bakshaish in west Persia near Heriz. The origin of the design relates to a group of earlier 18th century so-called Caucasian 'Shield' carpets discussed at length by Michael Franses and Robert Pinner in the first edition of Hali (HALI I, Nr.1, 1978, pp.4-21). In the Bakshaish carpets, the palmettes can be found in groups of fours, pairs or even as a single centralised motif (see E. Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche VI, Munchen, 1984, pp.126-7, pl.48) and are most commonly woven on an ivory ground apart from the present carpet which has a contrasting rich red field. The soft pale blue, camel, ivory and red palette and the relatively coarse weave are characteristic of weavings from Bakshaish, which retain much of their village charm with the frequent inclusion of small animals, figures, amulets and minor motifs such as the flowerheads seen in the present lot and in another striking example published by John J. Eskenazi, (Il Tappetto Orientale, Milan, 1983, p.274, pl.174). The balance of design and colour is particularly successful in the present lot but can be lost when too many palmettes are included, as seen in a carpet sold in these Rooms, 28 April 2005, lot 212. A carpet displaying a group of four palmettes on an ivory ground was with Galleria Boralevi, Firenze, (HALI, 106, September/October 1999), while a smaller example with a column of just two palmettes was published by Herrmann, (E.Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche V, Munich, 1983, pp.106-7, pl.50).