Lavar Kirman carpet

This elegant carpet was woven in the vicinity of the southeastern Persian city of Kirman. Kirman, or Kerman, as it is more typically pronounced, sits on the ancient trade road connecting Persia to India and is geographically closer to, what was in the 19th century, British controlled India than to the weaving centers of central and western Persia. Copious amounts of Indian lac dye were used to derive the saturated red hue accenting throughout the piece. This rich color along with deep shades of indigo are set against light cream and ivory ground tones rendering the distinctive color palette of this and other Kirman carpets. The field consists of a column of three intricate star-burst medallions composed of abstracted cloud-bands, lilies, and other ornate floral forms. The intricacy of drawing combined with the fineness of weave render a weaving reminiscent of fine Persian and Indian textiles such as shawls. Indeed, the design of both the field and border may ultimately derive from such luxury textiles woven in the 18th and 19th centuries.