A Russian carpet,

Pile is generally low to knotheads throughout. Oxidized dark browns, some repiled, some with visible spot foundation, particularly at top end of field. One approximately 2 inch by 5 inch rectangular reweave in lower right corner of field. One approximately 3 inch by 10 inch reweave nearby. One 1/2 inch by 11 inch reweave in upper section of field. One 1 inch by 5 inch reweave nearby. One approximately 1 inch by 5 inch reweave in upper left corner in border. Scattered repiling and restitching in lower left corner of field. Further repiling to other colors. Minor partial ends, missing a few rows of knots, now secured with chain stitch Sides partially overcast. Cloth tape sewn on reverse on all four sides. Supple handle, Victorian design, will enhance with cleaning.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The lot offered here is an excellent example of a nineteenth-century Russian carpet integrating contemporaneous Victorian motifs and Neoclassical patterns popular in Russia in the early 1800s. The individual floral elements and finely drawn overall design are typical of the Victorian taste of the time, whereas the compartmentalized overall pattern echoes the so-called plafond design, which was created by designers at the Yusupov workshop in Rakitnaia in the early nineteenth century and which consisted of floral arrangements enclosed in interconnected geometrical compartments, see Sarah B. Sherill, Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America,  New York, 1995, pp. 284-185. A Russian carpet with such design was sold Sotheby's New York, November 6, 2008, lot 168. With its curvilinear cartouche-like compartments, the current lot has a variation of this plafond design. The use of floral designs in bright colors was much preferred in Russian carpet design in the second half of the nineteenth century but the utilization of cartouches was relatively rare. Throughout the 1800s, carpet designers in the Russian empire closely followed western European models and due to the resulting uniform fashion in which Russian pieces were woven, it is difficult to distinguish the works from regional workshops from Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. Certain Russian carpets, particularly those from the Imperial Tapestry Factory, copied French works so successfully that telling them apart from their western counterparts required a well-trained eye, see Sherill, ibid., pp. 283, 286. Smaller factories in Kursk, Tula, or Nizhni Novgorod also produced carpets in the French taste in similarly high quality as those made at the imperial workshops in Saint Petersburg. The successful and well-balanced fusion of design elements from two different eras and the fine, almost needlepoint-like, excution make the lot offered here a superb example of a Russian carpet in the Victorian fashion. Another nineteenth-century carpet  with floral design elements arranged in similar cartouche-like compartments arranged on a grid was sold Sotheby's New York, April 10, 1991, lot 127.