Afshar rug

Rows of lotus-shaped palmettes, interspersed with devices that appear as abstracted trees or palm fronds, are colorfully drawn against the deep indigo ground of this Afshar rug. The palmettes are linked together on the top and bottom; it is likely that this distinctive Afshar theme derives from similar linked palmette and foliage borders from classical and post-classical Persian carpets of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Afshar have taken this motif and made it their own by using it as a multiple row repeat here. This same drawing, and elements derived from it, is also in smaller Afshar bags.