688.a whimsical Bakhtiari Persian rug

688. Provenance: Tabriz, Persia

Age: Circa 1940

Size: 196 x 125 cm

Condition: Overall low pile and some loss at one end, fully and professionally secured.

Notes: A charming, almost Romany-Gypsy-like rug, featuring two large stylized cabbage roses. This farangi gul or 'foreign flower' motif was based on the more naturalistic and elaborate floral sprays found in ealier European, particularly French Savonnerie and Aubusson, carpets. It now features as an outsized and somewhat flattened motif. This development may have started in Karabagh Caucasian rugs, in the last quater of the 19th century, to appeal to imperial Russian markets, particularly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, who were then kean on all things French.