Isfahan rug, $2,750

Isfahan rug
from central Persia
mid 20th century
Size: 152 x 112 cm

List price: $. 5,500
Sale price: $. 2,750

Isfahan is perhaps the city most famously associated with the great Safavid workshops of the 16th and 17th centuries, and was the splendid capital during the reign of Shah Abbas in the early 16th century.
The finest knotting of any Persian carpets produced over the last century comes from the workshops of Isfahan circa 1950. The quality of the wool is superb and the rug is knotted on a silk foundation, i.e. silk warp and silk weft. This mid century piece has an intricate curvilinear design featuring a central medallion and scrolling tendrils. The elegant palmette border is carefully resolved to negotiate the corners.