Persian Baktiari Geometric in Shades of Terracotta, Blue and Beige Rug BB5736 12'9" × 16'5" $90,000

This turn of the century antique Persian Bakhtiari rug features an elaborate all-over design of geometric patterns in shades of terracotta, blue and beige. Curlicues and arabesques fill the border in juxtaposition to the linear shapes within for a dramatic effect. In the early nineteenth century, some of the leaders of the Bakhtiari nomadic tribe settled in the Chahar Mahal region (southwest of modern-day Iran), where their relative wealth gave them the status of gentry, and led to the Bakhtiari name being appended to the region and its substantial antique carpet and rug production.

These distinctive antique Qajar dynasty Persian carpets are among the boldest and most dynamic of antique Persian rugs, and are distinguished by the liberal use of blue-black or charcoal, both as an outline of the individual design elements, or as the field color.