TARIM BASIN, EAST TURKESTAN, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

While some agree that the origin of the design of individual chrysanthemum flowers stems from early 7th-9th century Chinese silk textiles, Hans Bidder was of the opinion that the design draws close parallels with the coffered-guls of the Turkman tribes who carried the design west where it was later used in the south western Caucasus by the Tatar Kazaks. (H.Bidder, Carpets from Eastern Turkestan, Tübingen, 1964, pp.61-64). At one end of the field the weaver of the present lot appears unsure of the design, as a minor secondary flower head has been introduced along a single row. A similar rug but with more elongated proportions, displaying the same field and border design was acquired in 1883 by the Victoria and Albert Musuem, London, (Ulrich Schürmann, Central Asian Rugs, Frankfurt, 1969, p.169, pl.95). A further closely related example, but with a stylised flowering meandering vine border, is published by Moshe Tabibnia, Intrecci Cinesi, Milan, 2011, pp.190-1, pl.40.