Antique North Indian Botanic Handmade Wool Rug BB8619 15'3" × 25'6" $50,000

An early 20th century North Indian rug, the camel field with a dense overall design of finely-drawn palmettes and flowering vines within a green palmette border.

The production of antique oriental 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 indian style 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 large area rugs manufactured in the prisons of India, antique North Indian rugs  were products of a cottage industry controlled by families of carpet weavers.