Vintage Samarkand Rug BB5836 4'5" × 6'7"

This circa-1910 vintage Samarkand (Khotan) rug features an aubergine central roundel containing peacock and stylized botanical designs, complete with stylized butterfly patterns as corner brackets in shades of light green and rust against a beige field, with a sand, green and brown diagonal stripe border. The vintage carpet also makes use of swastika patterns. A common theme in Oriental Samarkand carpets, the swastika – usually seen in pieces from Buddhist cultures such as Khotan – denotes infinity. The vintage Oriental carpets from Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan in the Chinese occupied Autonomous Region of Sikiang are collectively known as Samarkands – lands of arid steppes, deserts and mountain ranges traversed for thousands of years by caravans of merchants and traders from China to Western Europe along the Silk Route. Rugs from this region are typically rendered in a glossy wool, occasionally embellished with richly brocaded silk and metal-thread.