Page 128 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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A PETAG TABRIZ CARPET
NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1920
Of Safavid 'Vase' design, the upper left corner of the field bearing the
çintamani signature, full pile throughout, a couple of spot surface marks,
overall excellent condition
12ft.11in. x 9ft.11in. (394cm. x 304cm.)
£8,000-12,000 US$12,000-17,000
€9,300-14,000
The PETAG workshop (Persische Teppiche A.G.), was a German initiative
founded in Berlin in 1911. Guided by the scholar Heinrich Jacoby, author of
“Eine Sammlung Orientalischer Teppiche”, Berlin, 1923, amongst other works,
a large workshop was opened in Tabriz. The carpets are identified by the use
of a particularly high quality, lustrous wool, the natural vegetal dyes and their
distinctive 'signature' formed of three çintamani roundels generally located in
the far corner of the field or border pattern.
The design of the present carpet is a close copy of an early 17th century
'Vase' carpet fragment housed in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna
(Angela Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpfteppiche im MAK, Vienna, 2001,
pl.95, pp.270-1). At the end of the 19th century/early 20th century, there
were a number of highly important publications on the history of Oriental
carpets which included large-scale black and white, and more importantly,
some colour illustrations, of magnificent Safavid and Ottoman carpets.
Publications such as, A History of Oriental Carpets before 1800, by F.R.
Martin, Stockholm, 1908; Friedrich Sarre's, Orientalische Teppiche, Vienna,
1892, and, Alt-Orientalische Teppiche, by F. Sarre and Herrman Trenkwald,
Vienna, 1926, gave the workshop access, for the first time, to the great 16th
and 17th century carpet designs.

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A BENLIAN TABRIZ CARPET
NORTH WEST PERSIA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Of Safavid 'Vase Compartment' design, overall
excellent condition
12ft.6in. x 10ft.3in. (381cm. x 313cm.)
£8,000-12,000 US$12,000-17,000
€9,300-14,000
INSCRIPTIONS:
fabrik-e qalibafi-ye [qademi], ‘[Qademi] carpet factory’
For a discussion on the Benlian workshop, see lot 154
in this sale.

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fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.