The design of the present rug and its pair in the following lot derive, as did that of the previous lot, from Italian sixteenth century velvets. In this particular variant, however, the weavers have played with the notion of what is design and what is background, so that what was originally palmettes within a similarly coloured ogival lattice on a coloured ground has here been changed to a design where what was originally the lattice is now the ground, and therefore what was the ground within each panel has now become the main bulk of each motif.

The inscription indicates that this pair of rugs were originally made as a pious gift to the shrine of Saint James, very possibly at Santiago da Compostella, but also concievably another foundation dedicated to the same patron.

Please see also the note to the following lot.