LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

This example comes from a small group of embroideries, taking their inspiration from Safavid kilims but woven in the last years of the eighteenth century in the Caucasus. Generally, these are woven with a central niche, as with an example in the Khalili Collection (acc.no. TXT 183, published in Stars of the Caucasus, London, 2018, p.103, no.4.50), or those sold in these Rooms 27 October 2022, lot 175 and 25 June 2020, lot 160. An example published by Nathaniel Harris is inscribed with a name Hajji Mirza Hussein al-Kashani (Rugs and Carpets of the Orient, London, 1977).

Though its meaning remains a source of speculation, the image of a lion attacking a bull is one of considerable antiquity in Iran. It features, for example, on the monumental stone friezes of the Achaemenid palace of Persepolis. Silk embroideries of this type drew widely from the Persian past for their content: an example with Moshe Tabibnia has mounted figures with Safavid-style turbans (Stars of the Caucasus, op.cit., no.4.49, p.101). Another in the Krauss collection depicts scenes from the story of Layla and Majnun. A comparable example with a lion and bull in the central medallion sold in these Rooms, 24 April 2012, lot 68.