Description

This Ersari main carpet dates to the second half of the 19th century.

Three columns of six large gulli guls form the main design of the field. They are arranged in diagonals of guls with opposing orange and white quarters and those with orange and dark blue quarters. One gul, at the centre of the bottom row, breaks this pattern, introducing a sequence of white and dark blue quarters. This idiosyncrasy is one of the charming features of this tribal weaving. All the guls, which are slightly wonky in shape, have two concentric diamonds with very small white flower heads on the edges in the otherwise plain centre of the main guls. The spaces between the main guls contain secondary elements of various sizes, plus a number of very small symbols such as a comb and an amulet.

The two-part curled leaf border is wider at the sides than at the ends and is in the same restricted colour scheme as the field: a dark red, orange, a very dark blue, undyed white and a very beautiful, dark turquoisy green. There are random stretches of guard stripes within the border, adding to the originality of the design. A row of sweet little flowers decorates the top and the bottom ends on a plain dark red ground.

The carpet has an area of wear and some old repairs, but it has great presence and originality. The quality of the wool is also excellent.

£1,800