Doe and Hope

Description

The symmetrically designed floral arranged rug having a ruby ground filled central field with central medallion in lagoon blue, soft greens and blues, the field filled with blooming vases and palmettes, the corners highly stylized and the three ruled border with roses and green leaves.

For a rug that is over half a century old the piece remains in fine fettle, with a nice amount of consistent overall wear to the pile. There are losses to the fringes, which is to be expected. There are no holes, tears or repairs.

Kirman (sometimes spelled Kerman) has been a major center for the production of high quality carpets since at least the 15th century. In the 18th century, some authors considered the carpets from the province of Kerman, especially at Siftan, to be the finest Persian carpets, partly because of the high quality of the wool from the region, known as Carmania wool. It is probably because of the fondness of the people of Kerman for roses, which they cultivate for the attar, that they depict them so profusely in their rugs. Sometimes they represent them as filling vases set in rows (we see several vases in the filed on this piece) and they also weave them in the borders among green leaves, as placed there tenderly and not hanging from such stiffly formed vines as are seen in other Persian rugs.

A very attractively designed, finely drawn and well-balanced semi old piece.