Most nineteenth century Persian carpets are in some way derived from classical Persian forerunners, but often the relationship is distant and not so faithful. But this Kerman offers a striking evocation of the great Persian tradition of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. The almost round medallion with its frilly edge of pendant botehs is quite faithful to early Persian carpet design. But the heart and soul of the rug is the magnificent soft red strap work or interlacing arabesque within the medallion. Its rhythmic, bold, sure drawing and delicate serrated articulation is exceptional. In nineteenth-century carpets like this, the greatness of classical Persian rug design had one last great swan song before it became submerged beneath the commercial demands and overproduction of the twentieth century.
