Persian Kirman Midnight Blue and Camel Handwoven Wool Rug BB7076 9'0" × 13'0" $40,000

An early 20th century Kerman carpet from Southeast Persia, the midnight blue field with a herati pattern overall within a whimsical camel palmette border.

During the sixteenth century, Shah Abbas I reportedly gave antique Kirman Persian carpets embroidered with gold and silver thread as tribute to the Ottoman Court. The fame of these oriental weavings rapidly spread across Western Europe. From the mid sixteenth century through the eighteenth century, the city of Kirman was celebrated for ‘vase’ carpets in NYC, a term deriving from the depiction of vase motifs in many examples woven there. By the nineteenth century, Kirman was recognized for exceptional oriental antique kilim rugs in the best Persian tradition. Antique Persian Kirman carpets of this period, especially the Lavar group woven in the town of Ravar, are known for their fine weave, delicate drawing, incomparable range of color, and are still much in demand today.