Fine Antique Indian Amritsar Brown Botanic Handmade Wool Rug BB4472 9'0" × 11'5" $20,000

An unusual Indian Amritsar rug having a light brown field diapered with abstract leaves and palmettes overall within a dusty apricot enlarged palmette vinery border.

The city of Amritsar, situated in Northwestern India, became a center of Indian rug and antique carpet weaving in the nineteenth century when the Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed Kashmir, the flourishing shawl-weaving center. The rise of the British supremacy in the 1850s, along with the Crystal Palace Exhibit in London, captured the attention of the public and sparked the dramatic development of rug production in Amritsar. Under the influence of European rug importers, the establishment of looms and the availability of fine quality wool from sheep raised in nearby mountains and valleys, the rug weavers of Amritsar adapted their traditional carpet designs to correspond with western tastes and European demand.