505 x 342 cm (16' 7" x 11' 3")
Persia, second half 19th century
Condition: good, pile low in places, several small repairs on the sides, a few small repairs in the field
Warps: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool
With its massive size of over five meters and its exceptionally rich design, this carpet is one of the most impressive large-format hand-knotted pieces from the Bidjar and Garrus regions. The so-called Garrus design has a long history. Its predecessors can be traced back to the great Persian workshop carpets of the 17th century. In the 18th century, similar design concepts were adopted and further developed in northwestern Persia. Over the course of the 19th century, they became so closely associated with the Garrus region, south of Bidjar, that the term " Garrus" became established in carpet literature to refer to this group of patterns. This is by no means a single, unchanging design, but rather an entire family of designs that were continually reinterpreted by the weavers. Our carpet is a particularly beautiful example of this. Against a deep blue ground, an unusually large-scale, strictly organized composition unfolds. Majestic, white-outlined tendrils and palmettes divide the field into overlapping sections. In between are stylized trees and shrubs, blossoms, palmettes, and numerous small floral motifs. Despite the extraordinary richness of the design, the pattern never loses its clarity. No less remarkable is the wide main border. Against alternating green and blue backgrounds, large red palmettes unfold, framed by vigorous, yellowish-beige tendrils. The forms are still clearly reminiscent of the large floral and arabesque patterns of classical Persian carpet art, but here they are translated into the bold, geometrically abstract design language of Northwest Persia. Narrow, white-ground flowering tendrils frame this monumental border and simultaneously create a striking contrast to the deep-blue field. Our carpet impressively demonstrates why this group ranks among the most significant achievements of 19th-century Northwest Persian carpet weaving: monumental scale, vibrant colors, and a design that does not deny its roots in classical Persian carpet art, yet translates them into a completely independent stylistic language.
Estimate: € 25000 - 35000