1800s, Persian; Shiraz, garden carpet

Carpet, hand knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft, Persian, late 19th century
WARP: cream and brown wool plied together with two narrow areas of dark brown wool; Z2S; semi-depressed; 20 threads per inch (76 per dm). NB: more warp threads have been introduced in the lower main and inner borders.
WEFT: wool in various reds: Z2S; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 10 knots per inch (average of 42 per dm).
PILE: wool; 12 colours: dark red, orange, yellow, green, light green, dark blue, blue, light blue, purple, brown, brown/black, white; asymmetrical knot open to the right and tied around 2 threads; 100 knots per sq. inch (1596 per sq. dm).
SIDE FINISH: both sides have one thick cord oversewn first in orange and then in dark red and green and repaired along patches.
END FINISH: lower: incomplete; evidence of 1 cm plain weave with red and brown wool weft in parallel threads and an additional line of stitches, alternately red and green, over 4 or 5 warp threads, followed by a further 1 cm of similar plain weave with a final fringe of 3" (8 cm) maximum of two warp threads Z twisted. Upper: minimal evidence of 1 cm plain weave as above but entirely in brown wool with some red and green additional stitching.
DESIGN: Field: white ground largely filled by an octagonal medallion with a dark blue ground with a central row of three connected, stepped white diamonds all outlined by a reciprocal dark red and dark blue hooked pattern. In the four corners of each diamond medallion is a blue hexagon with an orange and yellow flowerhead; in the centre is a large rosette - orange and green in the outer diamonds and yellow and brown in the inner; two pairs of birds stand on either side of the rosettes.
The dark blue field is densely decorated with cypress trees, peacocks and other large and small birds, animals with floral tails, rosettes, palmettes and flowerheads, oblong chequer boards, S- and geometric motifs. The border-like white field shares the above motifs.
Main border: a dark red ground with a floral meander of rosettes (the lower and upper borders having rosettes alternating with larger three-tiered flowers) with the secondary stem ending in a boteh motif, the meander on the long sides being decidedly angular.
Outer border has a white ground with square blocks of colour on which lie contrasting diamonds with floret centres, the squares separated by pairs of narrow blocks of one colour.
Guard stripes: inner: small white square flowerheads, alternating with others in various colours.
Outer: blue ground with orange and brown flowerheads on a yellow zigzag while that along the field has the same design and colouring with a white zigzag on a green ground.
Outermost border along lower and upper ends: a dovetailed geometric design, in various colours, the lower end facing the right and the upper the left.
Catalogue Date: 16.5.95

P. C. Manuk and Miss G. M. Coles Bequest through Art Fund

cf: Woven Gardens plt. 2. but ref. pl. 1 - "unmistakably South Persian and can be found on 19th c. rugs, linked 'perhaps' to 16th c. 'Holbein rugs. ... probably Qashgai".

This carpet design is a free, haphazard mixture of whatever took the weavers' fancy - including a few six-legged animals.

T.66-1948