A BAKSHAISH CARPET, NORTHWEST PERSIA

Sotheby’s New York, 16 November, 2011, Lot 438

Herrmann notes of this arresting Bakshaish carpet: “A striking carpet by virtue of its clarity and simplicity, with ample spacing, in contrast to the ‘horror vacui’ type in which the field is fully covered with motifs to the last corner. The so-called motif palmette has nothing to do with any floral background, but with complex naqshbandi work to create signposts for the imaginary path in the afterlife. Its origin is to be found in 18th century carpets of the Caucasus, influenced by the late Persian Safavid style. (See a number of examples published by Serare Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets, Vol.1, London, 1978), and still thriving in the 19th century (see Grote-Hasenbalg, Der Orientteppich, Seine Geschichte und seine Kultur, Vol. 1, Berlin 1922, p. 130, folio XII). A similar development of the use of 18th Caucasian motifs in 19th century Persian Azerbaijani workshop carpets can be seen in a Heriz carpet exhibited by Moshe Tabibnia in late 1994 (see Hali 78, p. 143)”

Please note that due to recent changes in the U.S. law, carpets and rugs of Iranian/Persian origin can no longer be imported into the U.S