Carpets

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Lot 25
  • 25

A Lavar Kirman pictorial carpet, Southeast Persia,

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description

  • A Lavar Kirman pictorial carpet
  • approximately 421 by 322cm., 13ft. 10in. by 10ft. 7in.
with an inscription cartouche, the inscription reading: "qali baf-e khaneh-ye hazrat-e ashraf aqa-ye amir mufakhkham litf'ali khan
bakhtiyari"  (The carpet weaver of the house of His Excellency, the most Noble, Mr Amir Mufakhkham Lutf'ali Khan Bakhtiyari)

Catalogue Note

The carpet depicts Pomona with Vertumnus in the guise of a faun, playing the pipes of the fertility god, Pan, seated beside a plinth supporting a vase with Maenads overhead with tambourine and floral wreaths, surrounded by trees and flowers to represent Arcadia (romantic paradise).

The cartoon for this carpet was based on a Gobelins tapestry depicting the `Dance of the Nymph’, from the series Subjects of the Roman Fables, after Raphael, woven on three occasions for Louis XIV, the first between 1686 and 1692, then 1690 – 1703 and finally between 1693 and 1704. See Christie’s Monaco, 11th -12th December 1999, lot 150, for a Louis XIV tapestry, woven by the Gobelins workshop, of this subject; the plinth supporting the urn inscribed Verisfoelici/ Satir i/et Nymphae /Vicinirvurus /Vota /Soluunt.

Nasir al’Din Shah (1848-1898) had a copy of this tapestry hanging in the Golestan Palace, presumably providing the specific inspiration for the cartoon for this group of carpets.  Large carpets with this design are rare: an example of similar size (inscribed as ‘Ordered by Sardar Asad, governor of Kirman and Belouchistan’), was sold at Christie’s London, April 29, 2004, lot 50; for a related example of smaller size, please see lot 36 in this sale.  The lot offered here is outstanding for its state of preservation and the quality of the weave, the wool and its rich and vibrant colour.

Lutf'ali Khan Amir Mufakhkham, referred to in the inscription on this piece, was involved in the constitution struggle during the reign of Muhammad ‘Ali Shah (1872 - 1925, reigned January 8, 1907 to July 16, 1909),  and although in 1327 (AD 1909) he fought with the pro-Shah group, he later changed sides and joined the pro-constitution fighters.  After the establishment of the Constitution, he became Governor of Kermanshah and Kirman and in 1336 (AD 1917-18) was appointed Minister of War.  He died in Qom around 1947. (See Bamdad, M., Dictionary of National Biography of Iran, Vol. III, Teheran, 1966, p. 181).