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A fine silk prayer rug Iran, 20th Century image 1
A fine silk prayer rug Iran, 20th Century image 2
Property from a private collection of Islamic and Indian Art
Lot 129

A fine silk prayer rug
Iran, 20th Century

Amended
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£2,000 - £3,000

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A fine silk prayer rug
Iran, 20th Century

of rectangular form, woven in polychrome silks with a central mihrab filled with floral and foliate interlace, an inscription-filled cartouche to the top, the spandrels with inscription-filed cartouches, the borders with further inscriptions and inscription-filled cartouches
174.5 x 111.2 cm. without tassels

Footnotes

Provenance
Private UK collection.

Inscriptions: Qur'an, chapter II (al-baqarah), most of verse 255; The basmalah; Qur'an, chapter XXVII (al-naml), verse, 31; Qur'an, chapter VI (al-an'am), parts of verse 83; a saying ('Graces continue by being grateful'); Qur'an, chapter I, (al-fatihah) verse 2; Qur'an, chapter XXIV (al-nur), parts of verse 35; Attributes of God; 'God is Most Great, the Great', 'The Prophet, peace be upon him said'.

For a comparable prayer rug with a "Sultan's Head" mihrab design and a similar patchwork arrangement of Arabic text cartouches, see a silk Kashan prayer rug sold at the Fine European and Oriental Carpets sale at Christie's New York in December 1994 (Lot 172). Christie's attributes this rug to Central Persia and the first half of the 20th century.

The "Sultan's Head" mihrab was a signature design motif of the Armenian workshops of Kumkapi, Ottoman Istanbul, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This distinctive mihrab design was particularly popularized by the Armenian master weaver and Ottoman court cartoonist Zareh Penyamin. This prayer rug may be a twentieth century Kashan workshop's adaptation of the iconic Kumkapi design. An original Kumkapi "Sultan's Head" prayer rug from approximately 1910 signed by Zareh was sold in the Christie's Oriental Rugs and Carpets sale in October 2005.

Saleroom notices

Please note that this carpet is Turkish and not Iranian as stated in the catalogue.

Additional information