19th Century Persian Meshad Botanic Handwoven Wool Rug BB7123 12'3" × 14'4" $65,000

A finely-knotted late 19th century Persian Mashad rug, the midnight field with a trellis of palmettes, leafy flowering vinery and enlarged curving feathery leaves within a sand turtle-palmette border.

Meshad, is the administrative seat of the Khorassan province which is located in Iran’s east, bordering the Salt Desert to the west and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the east. It was a major oasis along the famed Silk Road, which stretched some 4,000 miles from China and India all the way to the Mediterranean which in turn allowed European access to Chinese goods. Meshad is currently Iran’s second largest city with over three million residents. The broader region is home to many well-known Oriental antique carpet workshops in the towns of Amoghli, Khamenei, Makhmalbaf, Saber, and Zarbaf which produce antique Persian rugs that feature both symmetrical and asymmetrical knots. Antique Meshad rugs are ‘jufti’ knotted, a technique used in antique Khorassan carpets and antique Doroksh rugs as well.