Arts of the Islamic World and India, including Fine Rugs and Carpets

A rare Kashan 'Mohtasham’ carpet, Central Persia, last quarter 19th century

UK: Greenford Park WarehouseVAT reduced rate

Auction Closed

April 26, 01:36 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

illustrating the Seven Pavilions of the Seven Beauties described in Nizami Ganjavi’s epic romantic poem, the Haft Peykar, recounting the life of the Sasanian ruler Bahram-e Gur

approximately 300 by 209cm.

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Inscriptions

The text bears four couplets from the section on Bahram going to the Seven Pavilions. Three pavilions are respectively labelled: The Blue Pavilion, The Red Pavilion and The White Pavilion; others have inscriptions reading: ‘‘Bahram goes to the Yellow Pavilion’ and ‘The King goes to the Green Pavilion.’

Bahram quests in search of seven princesses whom he then wins as his brides. He orders seven domes to house his new wives and is advised to assure his good fortune by adorning each dome with the color associated with the homeland and planet of its occupant. The princesses take up residence in their splendid pavilions and in the portion of Nizami’s epic depicted in this carpet the king then visits each princess on successive days of the week to feast and be entertained by his brides: on Saturday the Indian princess, who is governed by Saturn, in the black dome, on Sunday the Greek princess, who is governed by the sun, in the yellow dome, and so on. Each princess regales the king with a story. These seven, highly sensuous, stories told by the Princesses make up about half of the body of the poem.

The coloured Pavilions and their associated attributes are as follows:

Black: Saturday, the planet Saturn, the Indian princess Furak and her tale ‘The Unfulfilled Love’.

Yellow: Sunday, the Sun, Yagma Naz, the princess of Turkestan, and her story of ‘The King who did not want to marry’.

Green: Monday, the Moon, Princess Naz Pari of Khwarazm, and ‘The Lovesick Bishr’

Red: Tuesday, the planet Mars, Nasrin-Nush, the princess of Saqaliba (Slavic Europe) with ‘Turandot’s Riddles’

Turquoise (blue): Wednesday, the planet Mercury, Azarbin, princess of the Maghreb and the tale of ‘Mahan and the Madman’

Sandal: Thursday, the planet Jupiter, Princess Humay of Rum and the story of ‘Good and Evil’

White: Friday, the planet Venus, and the story of the ‘Tribulations of the Lovers’ told by the Persian princess Diroste.

This is an unusual subject in the canon of pictorial Kashan weavings, rare also for its large size and for its outstanding state of preservation.