Central Persia, late nineteenth century - wool pile on cotton foundation
The so called ‘Sultanabad’ carpets produced for the German firm of Ziegler in the Arak region of Persia represent the very finest examples of the Mahal type. In the later nineteenth century, as the western appetite for Oriental carpets increased dramatically, European firms ceased simply to import; they began to open production centers in Persia and to become involved in the design of the carpets as well. Woven to meticulous standards of technique and color, Sultanabads combined a taste for Classical Persian elegance with a desire for monumental grandeur. They drew directly upon the original designs of the Safavid period (16th-17th centuries), but often with a more delicate palette suited to European and American decorative sensibilities. Here the field utilizes the Classical Persian ‘Herati’ pattern with its grand, undulating sickle-shaped leaves and palmettes arranged within a mina khani or trelli format of interlacing vines. Smaller floral sprays or blossoms fill the intervening spaces. An elegant ‘turtle’ or palmette vinescroll border set again a soft rose ground nicely complements the field of wedgwood blue. Additional minor vinescroll and rosette borders reinforce the main border, enabling it to frame effectively the monumental decorative sweep of the field. Here the design, color and superb draftsmanship embody the high standards for which Sultanabads were famed.