NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1920

The PETAG workshop (Persische Teppiche A.G.), was a German initiative founded in Berlin in 1911. Guided by the scholar Heinrich Jacoby, author of “Eine Sammlung Orientalischer Teppiche”, Berlin, 1923, amongst other works, a large workshop was opened in Tabriz which produced high quality carpets in order to combat the decline in quality encountered as a result of the mass production of the late 19th century. The carpets are identified by the use of a particularly high quality wool, the natural vegetal dyes and their distinctive 'signature' formed of three çintamani roundels generally located in the far corner of the field or border pattern. In this example it can be found in one of the far corners of the field. The workshop frequently used 16th century classical carpet designs as a source of inspiration, which were available to them in printed books such as Friedrich Sarre's, Orientalische Teppiche, Vienna, 1892, and A History of Oriental Carpets before 1800, Stockholm, 1908 by F. R.Martin. The design of the present lot stems from 16th/17th century Safavid 'Vase' carpets but with an adapted colour palette.