A Safavid 400-year old Kerman carpet sold at Christie's for GBP 562,500 or $778,000

Sold April 1st, 2021 at the Christie’s in London for GBP 562,500 $778,000 

An important Kerman  ‘Vase’ carpet fragment, Southeast Persia, first half 17th century. 8 ft 8 in x 5 ft 5 in (267 cm x 168 cm). 

‘In the top left-hand corner it also connects to a fragment that’s in the Louvre, and in the lower part we have a partial ivory palmette, which connects to a fragment in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin,’ Broadhurst explains.

It is also the mirror portion of a fragment in the Musée Historique des Tissus in Lyon, while other pieces of the original carpet can be found in the V&A in London; the Design Museum in Copenhagen; Glasgow’s Burrell Collection; the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg; Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.

Broadhurst, the head of Christie’s Oriental Rugs & Carpets department, explains that the design of this carpet would have been complex to create, with multiple, intertwined flowering vines woven in 17 different colors and an average of 36 knots per square centimeter.

It is one of a dozen known pieces of the original carpet, which was most likely divided up during the 19th century. ‘Many Vase carpets were salvaged and preserved as fragments,’ she says. In fact, no complete examples on a comparable scale have survived.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
Certified Rug Appraiser (CRA)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
15748 Arminta St. Van Nuys, CA 91406 Tel. 310-770-9085

Sir William Burrell / Wagner "Garden" rug, Kerman, Iran, 17th century (Safavid Empire). Glasgow Museum

Sir William Burrell / Wagner "Garden" rug, Kerman, Iran, 17th century (Safavid Empire). Glasgow Museum (cotton and wool)

The Wagner Garden Carpet is one of the most amazing garden carpets to have survived to the present. It was produced during the Safavid period in 17th century Kirman, a well known carpet-making city in south-eastern Iran. The layout of the carpet evokes an image of the earthly paradise as inspired by both the ancient Iranian ‘chahar-bagh’ – four-quartered garden – and the description of Paradise in the Quran. Water channels divide the walled garden, and meet at a central pool. On the banks of the waterways trees, bushes and shrubs blossom and bloom all at the same time; and animals (both predators and pray), birds of all types, multi-coloured butterflies and moths inhabit the garden. Fish and ducks populate the waterways, who’s shimmering waters are cunningly illustrated by the drawing of a lattice pattern with varied thicknesses of line and colour.

This carpet was purchased by Sir William Burrell in 1939, and he donated it with his collection to the City of Glasgow in 1944. It measures 5.31 m long and 4.32 m wide; and is made up of cotton warps; wool, cotton and silk wefts; and wool pile. It acquired its name ‘Wagner’ from a previous owner who acquired it at the beginning of the 20th century.

Sir William Burrell’s prized 17th century Persian  “Wagner” Garden Carpet is believed to be the second most important Iranian carpet in the UK after the Ardabil Carpet at the V&A Museum. Due to its large size and condition, 5.5m x 4.3m , this Safavid carpet has only been displayed twice in the last 30 years. Believed to have been made in Kerman/Kirman, or possibly Isphahan, it has a woollen pile, cotton warps, and wool and cotton wefts.

Named after a previous German owner (Wagner), the carpet’s unique and beautiful design is of a four quartered garden divided by water channels that form the letter H, with a water basin in the centre of the short horizontal channel. The garden is filled with images of  Cypress and flowering trees and shrubs, and populated with an array of birds, animals and several types of fish and duck, floating on the water channels. Lions, leopards, gazelles, peacocks, storks and pigeons, roam the garden. The symmetrical layout and bordered water channels are not only reminiscent of Safavid royal gardens in Isphahan, but also resemble descriptions of Gardens of Paradise in the Qur’an.

The Wagner Garden Carpet is considered to be one of the three earliest surviving Persian garden carpets in the world, the other two being at the Jaipur Museum and the Museum of Industrial Art in Vienna. However, the design of this particular carpet is unique, and no other examples resembling it or using part of its base-pattern have yet been identified.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Kerman Rug - Layers of Dirt vs. Deep Cleaning

Last week a customer brought in a 6 x 9 Kerman Rug that had not been cleaned in about 7 years. It is a beautiful rug but the layers of dirt prevented anyone from truly seeing how beautiful it is. Our customer opted for our deep cleaning to bring back the life and vibrancy to her rug. Take a look at the before pictures below:

We put this Kerman through our deep cleaning process, which is the highest quality care/wash you could give to a handknotted rug. We were quite pleased with the results; check the after pics below:

This Kerman rug now looks absolutely fantastic thanks to our Rug Ideas deep cleaning. All the layers of dirt are gone and the beauty of the rug shines through. The owner had no idea that her rug would come out looking brand new and has decided to bring in 2 other rugs she has at her house. If you have a rug that hasn't been cleaned in a while and needs some TLC, bring it in to Rug Ideas for that extra special treatment!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)

Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)

www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

www.RugIdea.com

Tel. 310-770-9085

Summer Cleaning - Kerman Rug

A customer decided to do some summer cleaning at his house and decided that this was the time to have a Kerman rug in his living room deep cleaned. It is a beautiful rug but came in with a layer of dirt and had multiple stains which made it a little bit of an eyesore. Take a look below:

The deep cleaning process at Rug Ideas is the best possible care you can give to a rug. We put our customer's Kerman through this process and it came back like a different rug. Take a look below:

The cleaning speaks for itself... this Kerman rug looks absolutely fantastic. We just finished the detailing and can't wait to give this rug back to the owner. If you are doing summer cleaning in your house and notice that your rug needs some special attention/cleaning, bring it to Rug Ideas so we can help bring back the vibrancy and life to it!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)

Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)

www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com

www.RugIdea.com

Tel. 310-770-9085

Kerman Repair - An Inside Look

Today's post shows us an inside glance at just how the magic happens when doing a rug reweave. The Kerman rug in question can be seen below, which show major damage that has happened to one of the corners of the rug.

This damage is major and only could  be fixed with the help of a master weaver. We had one of our master weavers go to work on and we'll even give you a sneek peek of how the process went. A loom had to be created around the damaged area so that the reconstruction could begin. Take a look below:

Only a handful of people have the skills to do such work, and we are proud to have a team of master weavers that can handle very delicate jobs. Take a look at how the Kerman reweaving came out below:

The reweave came out terrific and the damage is not only totally gone but the rug looks absolutely original because of the high quality workmanship. If you have a delicate job for a handmade rug that needs repair or reweaving come to Rug Ideas where we can give you the absolute highest quality service!

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085