WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1850

This beautifully preserved rug is woven with an extraordinary wool which is very similar in feel to the pashmina of the Indian prototype on which it is modelled. The wool is wonderfully thick and soft, with fully saturated colours. It is one of a small group of rugs woven in Fereghan copying the late 17th or 18th century Indian originals. For another superb Fereghan of this design sold in these Rooms please see 15 April 2010, lot 104. The note to that lot gives a much fuller discussion of the link between the two groups. In contrast to the rug sold last year, the present rug's design is taken from the more angular among the Indian prototypes, such as one offered at Sotheby's New York, 19 September 2003, lot 84.