Lot 74

TABRÍZ PICTORIAL RUG

Rare hand knotted pictorial wool rug on cotton warp. During the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925), after many years of chaos and decline, the Persian Empire enjoyed relative stability and, in addition to the increasing production of urban carpets for the wealthier classes, luxury court carpets began to re-emerge during the 19th century. Some were intended from the beginning as lavish diplomatic gifts, but carpets with a purely Persian theme were destined for the palaces of the ruling elite. Our court specimen stands out not only for its extremely dense hand-knotting and expensively produced natural dyes, but also for the sharpness of its details and their precise rendering. It is not surprising that the entire border is imbued with hunting motifs, as the shahs would set out with their large retinue for weeks, even months, on hunting expeditions, during which not even part of the harem was absent. An unusual motif is the preparation of the execution, including such details as the tub for the severed heads, which leads one to believe that this unique carpet may have been intended for the titular bearer, who was known in Persian as the nasaqchi bashi and, as confidant of the shah and executor of his wrath, could decide on various aspects of the torture of the condemned, including amputations or blinding. His high status was reflected in the fact that, together with the Shah, he routinely received the highest state visitors, who often literally coveted the various aspects of Oriental despotism. In the design of the carpet we see, among other things, an audience with the ruler on his throne, a hint of intrigue in the form of a courtier behind a tree, a courting scene, conical cypress trees in the palace garden, or a wandering dervish with a crutch on his shoulder. In the corners of the border are lion heads with manes, the emblem of the ruling dynasty during whose era Persian carpets regained undying worldwide fame. Professionally cleaned and impregnated with lanolin on both sides.