Middle East, Carpet. Carpet fragment, wool knotted pile on cotton foundation, design of trees and flowering plants in trellis compartments, possibly Kerman, Iran, 1750-1850

Warp: white cotton; Z4S; 22 threads per inch (76-8 per dm); depressed.

Weft: white cotton; Z2S; number of shoots varies but is predominantly 3 after each row of knots; 7 knots per inch (30 per dm)

Pile: wool; 13 colours: dark red, red, dark orange, orange, yellow, dark green, green (or both could be abrash of one colour), light green, dark blue, blue, pink, dark brown (probably natural overdyed with indigo to enhance the glow), white; asymmetrical knot open to the left and tied around 2 threads; 77 knots per sq.inch (average 1155 per sq.dm)

Side finish: cut

End finish: cut

Design:
Field: large scale serrated diamond lattice; each incomplete band has 7? diamonds and there are 4 complete bands and 2 incomplete bands. Each diamond has its own ground colour and each is completely filled with floral decoration. Some blossoms are stylized and some are more naturalistic, but all are on a geometric plant springing from a pair of leaves. The lattice is leaf-like and has small blue or white rosettes at the intersections. The lattice is in various contrasting colours.

Borders: missing

Purchased from Mirza Yusuf Khan, 11 Coptic Street, London.

The carpet designer can simplify the creative process, but still create something dramatic, by using a lattice to form a network of spaces in which he can draw different motifs. In contrast to most 19th century carpet designs based on this principle, older examples, such as this, often have lattices on a grand scale: each of these diamonds measures over 68 cm (26 in) in length.

544-1905