Vintage Indian Amritsar Rug BB7481 10'0" × 12'6" $40,000

A late 19th century Indian Amritsar antique rug, the pale pink field with overblown celadon palmettes surrounded by voluptuous blossoming garland within an ivory pink palmette border.

The production of antique Indian rugs and carpets in any quantity dates back to the Mughal period of the late 1520’s. Beginning with the conquest of Northern India by Babur, weaving workshops developed around the imperial cities of Agra, Fathpur and Lahore. Akbar the Great (1556-1605) and his successors sponsored and encouraged the weaving of splendid Indian versions of classic Persian floral, garden and hunting beautiful rugs and carpets. As an eminent patron of the arts, Jahangir (reigning from 1605-1628), possessed a deep love for the beauty of nature, influencing the artists of his court. Unlike antique Agra carpets manufactured in the prisons of India, antique North indian amritsar rugs were products of a cottage industry controlled by families of carpet weavers.