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17
Khotan Saph
New
311 x 107 cm (10' 2" x 3' 6")
East Turkestan, early 19th century
Condition: good, mostly good pile, some small repairs, right side restored (ca. 35 cm)
Warp: cotton, weft: wool, pile: wool
This Saph prayer rug is unique in many respects. Most other examples display a variety of motifs in the niches, such as single flowers, shrubs, or purely geometric patterns. However, when - as in Lorentz's 'Chinese Carpets' Nos. 11 and 12 - all the niches are uniformly designed, the spandrels above them are at least executed with some variation.
In our piece, the differences are limited to small pattern variations and the coloration of the mihrabs. Precisely because of this - and due to the large proportion of yellow - the rug appears friendly, open, indeed almost inviting. Contributing to this impression is the particularly generously drawn outer border. Its form, derived from the reciprocal crenellated border, harmonizes beautifully with the field.
The fact that a Khotan saph has such a wide border is rather rare. Looking at the beginning of the rug on the left side, one notices that the weaver was apparently not entirely certain how to arrange the border: the first "trefoils" point exclusively outward - as is almost always the case in rugs. Only after the second mihrab does she, quite unusually, alternate them inward- and outward-facing. She also experimented with the framing of the niches: initially she used the so-called "rice grain" motif but then switched to a very rare square pattern.
An example of this hourglass-shaped design can be found in a rug illustrated in Hali 92, p. 59. There the "rice grain" motif is placed in the outer border. Completely enigmatic, however, remains the double heart in the spandrels. It appears to be unique within the design canon of East Turkestan rugs and must have held a special meaning for the weaver - it immediately catches the viewer's eye.
Estimate: € 16000 - 22000
East Turkestan, early 19th century
Condition: good, mostly good pile, some small repairs, right side restored (ca. 35 cm)
Warp: cotton, weft: wool, pile: wool
This Saph prayer rug is unique in many respects. Most other examples display a variety of motifs in the niches, such as single flowers, shrubs, or purely geometric patterns. However, when - as in Lorentz's 'Chinese Carpets' Nos. 11 and 12 - all the niches are uniformly designed, the spandrels above them are at least executed with some variation.
In our piece, the differences are limited to small pattern variations and the coloration of the mihrabs. Precisely because of this - and due to the large proportion of yellow - the rug appears friendly, open, indeed almost inviting. Contributing to this impression is the particularly generously drawn outer border. Its form, derived from the reciprocal crenellated border, harmonizes beautifully with the field.
The fact that a Khotan saph has such a wide border is rather rare. Looking at the beginning of the rug on the left side, one notices that the weaver was apparently not entirely certain how to arrange the border: the first "trefoils" point exclusively outward - as is almost always the case in rugs. Only after the second mihrab does she, quite unusually, alternate them inward- and outward-facing. She also experimented with the framing of the niches: initially she used the so-called "rice grain" motif but then switched to a very rare square pattern.
An example of this hourglass-shaped design can be found in a rug illustrated in Hali 92, p. 59. There the "rice grain" motif is placed in the outer border. Completely enigmatic, however, remains the double heart in the spandrels. It appears to be unique within the design canon of East Turkestan rugs and must have held a special meaning for the weaver - it immediately catches the viewer's eye.
Estimate: € 16000 - 22000