A Mughal carpet, North India,

restorations, repiling, reweaves, cut and reduced in the length, upper left hand corner with reweave approximately 120 by 150cm, section of right hand border approximately 250cm in length rewoven, much of ground repiled at various times, graceful drawing, spectacular scale.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Even though Indian court carpet production is believed to have commenced in the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1556-1605), it was not until the 1620s, during the reign of Shah Jahan (1628-1658) that Indian weavers stopped copying contemporaneous Persian works and developed a style that is distinctly Indian in both design and structure. Weaving in palace ateliers or urban workshops on large fixed looms gave the designers the opportunity to develop large scale patterns, which were often very elaborate, following a cartoon that determined the design from knot to knot. Weaving instructions, known as ta'lims, concerning colors, sequence and number of warps were provided and craftsmen were expected to follow every rule. However, these regulations did not necessarily mean that every rug and carpet was an extremely finely-woven masterpiece, and knot density varied from 50 to 2100 knots per square inch. The design of Mughal carpets is similarly diverse and it ranges from fantastic animal to scrolling-vine-and-blossom patterns. The lot offered here appears to date from the first quarter of the seventeenth century, as it exhibits many similarities with Persian carpets from the period. Like many earlier works from the Shah Akbar period, this lot is decorated with a composition of intricate scrolling vines and blossoms, enriched with large palmettes and serrated leaves, not unlike those found in Safavid carpets from the late sixteenth century. The bold border design of the carpet is decorated with a scrolling cloudband-like design that leaves much of the dark forest green ground color exposed. The bold pairing of the uncomplicated forest greenn border with the densely-decorated red field results in a powerful juxtaposition that is further enhanced with the restrained use of minor secondary borders. A Mughal carpet with similarly sharply contrasting field and border was sold Sotheby's New York, Carpets from the Estate of Vojtech Blau, 14 December, 2006, lot 54. Besides its design elements, the color palette of the lot offered here also suggests strong Persian influence as contemporaneous works from there generally used red fields framed by dark coloured borders. Whereas field designs in Indian carpets changed significantly during the rest of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the juxtaposition, in both density of design and color scheme, of border and field remained a popular concept with Indian weavers throughout the centuries. For more information on carpet weaving in the Mughal era, see Daniel Walker, Flowers Underfoot, New York, 1997.