Qashqai Kilim

258 x 144 cm (8' 6" x 4' 9")
Persia, second half 19th century
Condition: good, both ends slightly damaged, scattered small repairs, slight signs of use
Warp: wool, weft: wool

The Qashqai are among the most important tribal confederations of southern Persia and are par-ticularly renowned for their finely woven pile carpets and flatweaves. Their kilims are distin-guished by a distinctive geometric design vocabulary and expressive use of colour.
The present example is particularly striking for its carefully structured diamond pattern. Nu-merous small, serrated diamonds are arranged in regular rows against a deep reddish-brown ground. The lively interplay of blue, turquoise, yellow, red, black and ivory lends the field an almost mosaic-like appearance.
Especially remarkable are the four large, irregularly shaped colour fields in the corners, which interrupt the uniform diamond lattice and lend the composition a distinctive character. The dark blue main border, decorated with ivory-coloured star motifs, together with the finely patterned end bands, provides an effective frame for the design.
The combination of a strictly geometric underlying structure with freely composed corner sec-tions makes this early Qashqai kilim a particularly appealing example of 19th-century southern Persian flatweaving.

Estimate: € 2000 - 3000