Lavar Kirman

This fine pictorial Kirman rug from south-east Persia depicts a female portrait, perhaps an historical or contemporaneous queen or princess. Situated closer to what was at the time British India than to Tehran, Kirman rugs reflect a pronounced Mughal influence and refinement. Here the central portrait roundel is surrounded by a rich and elaborately detailed directional field tracing a veritable garden of flowering trees and foliage terminating at the top with a stylized crown. This late 19th century composition incorporates aspects of mille-fleur drawing with a neo-classical aesthetic that seems to anticipate early notions of Art Deco demonstrating the refined international taste of Persian decorative art of the time.