Decorative arts
Ispahan Rug
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- Date
- early 17th Century
- Accession number
- 12.19
- Maker
- Unknown(Opens in new tab) (Unknown)
- Dimensions
- overall: 69 × 161 in. (175.3 × 408.9 cm.)
- Medium
- wool
- Description
- Herat ( so-called Ispahan) rug from eastern Persia. On a purplish-red field an all-over pattern in blue and green of large and small palmettes connected by vines and serrated leaves. Three border stripes, the main one repeating the palmette and vine pattern on a dark blue field. Sehna knot - about 168 to the square inch. Edges overcast. Herat, an old Persian city now situated in Afghanistan, was in Shah Abbas' time (1586-1628) the center of learning and culkture. In the rugs we notice an extreme of refinement in color, but since the city has become part of Afghanistan there is a "certain wild grandeur" corresponding to the Afghan character woven into their work. Herati rugs are closely woven of fine wool and good dyes.
