Page 162 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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A BENLIAN TABRIZ CARPET
SIGNED QALI-BAFIYAN WA MAHMUD JABBARZADA,
NORTH WEST PERSIA, CIRCA 1910
Mostly in full pile, minute spots of localised wear, both ends
overbound
12ft.3in. x 8ft.11in. (374cm. x 273cm.)
£6,000-8,000 US$8,500-11,000
€7,000-9,200
The Benlian star signature reads sherkat-e jabbarzadeh-ye
qali-bafiyan va Mahmud, which translates as ‘The Jabbarzadeh
Carpet weaving company and Mahmud’. Whilst other early
20th century workshops such as PETAG began producing
Tabriz carpets of similar style, Benlian carpets can be
identified by their eight-pointed star insignia woven in the
corner of each inner guard stripe. The Benlian workshop was
founded in the first half of the 20th century in Tabriz where
it wove carpets specifically for the European market. Of
Armenian descent, Edward E Benlian, a London based carpet
dealer, had a strong affinity with the Armenian community of
Tabriz and set up a workshop employing the best weavers in
order to produce carpets of the highest quality. His master
weavers included Javan Amir Kizi and Mahmud Ghalicheh,
by whom the present carpet is woven. Both of these master
weavers were extremely successful in reinterpreting the
classical carpet designs of 16th and 17th century Safavid
Persia, for more modern tastes. For another carpet woven by
the Benlian workshop with a Safavid ‘Vase’ design, see lot 124
in this sale.
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■155
A MESHED RUG
SIGNED AMOGHLI, NORTH EAST PERSIA, CIRCA 1930
Overall excellent condition
5ft. x 4ft.4in. (155cm. x 135cm.)
£7,000-9,000 US$9,900-13,000
€8,100-10,000
The knot count is approximately 8V x 7H per cm. sq.

The workshop of Ali Khan and Abdol Mohammad Amoghli was
considered one of the greatest Persian carpet workshops of the 20th
century and was greatly favoured by the Pahlavi Shahs particularly Reza
Shah. Sa'dabad Palace in northern Tehran was furnished by the Pahlavi
with carpets from the Amoghli workshop, as was the Palace at Niavaran,
a pavilion-like structure built in the original Qajar gardens by the order of
Nasir al-Din Shah.

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160 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty
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.