Item Ref
BM/MI2
This rug is outstanding! Certainly one of the very best Afshar rugs I've ever handled or even seen in private collections worldwide.
Having a rather illegible date in the madder-red panel, top right hand corner of the diagonal-band field design, my feelings are that this rug is early, possibly around 1870. Finely knotted, one needs to concentrate on the indigo-blue inner field which contains a myriad of birds, quadrupeds and human representation. The two cenral lozenges highlighted in sky-blue, contain '8-pointed stars', symbols of protection. But look at the upper star. It contains a small bird, symbolising the carrier of the soul from the earthly world to the realms of the spirit.
Altogether, an amazing and truly fabulous rug.
Size: 1.93m x 1.31m (6' 4" x 4' 3").
SOLD