114 - An exceptional, very significant, and rare French carpet, Aubusson, circa 1920. Made of wool velvet on a cotton backing, featuring remarkable decoration and beautiful design reminiscent of 17th-century Persian carpets known as Safavid carpets (from the Safavid dynasty under Shah Abbas the Great, the “Louis XIV of Persia”). The field is old rose, decorated with rows of stylized geometric palmettes and floral bulbs in old gold, bluish gray, tobacco, and pale blue, surrounded by foliage and fine, crenellated stems shaped like serpentines. Five borders, the main one in tobacco-colored wool with a natural color variation (abraché), featuring motifs reminiscent of the central field. Dimensions: 745 x 716 cm (signs of wear; minor damage to the border—a small opening)

An exceptional, very significant, and rare French carpet, Aubusson, circa 1920. Made of wool velvet on a cotton backing, featuring remarkable decoration and beautiful design reminiscent of 17th-century Persian carpets known as Safavid carpets (from the Safavid dynasty under Shah Abbas the Great, the “Louis XIV of Persia”). The field is old rose, decorated with rows of stylized geometric palmettes and floral bulbs in old gold, bluish gray, tobacco, and pale blue, surrounded by foliage and fine, crenellated stems shaped like serpentines. Five borders, the main one in tobacco-colored wool with a natural color variation (abraché), featuring motifs reminiscent of the central field. Dimensions: 745 x 716 cm (signs of wear; minor damage to the border—a small opening) Bibliography: - *Islamic Carpets* by Walter B. Denny - *20th-Century French Carpets: From Art Nouveau to Contemporary Creations* by Jacques Sirat and François Siriex; *Splendors of the Persian Carpet* by Edwin Gans Ruedin - *The Persian Carpet Tradition: Six Centuries of Design Evolution* by P.R.J. Ford To better understand the original design that inspired the French weavers, catalogs devoted to the Islamic collections of the Louvre or to great Persian carpets are indispensable; one may also refer to publications on the famous Mantes carpet, a masterpiece of 16th-century Safavid art housed at the Louvre. Provenance: Private residence of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. on Avenue Montaigne, circa 1900