PREMIER PRE HOLIDAY AUCTION
Lot 93:
Description
Rare Antique Caucasian Silk Carpet in Very Good Condition
Rare and magnificent antique caucasian silk carpet. Provenance: Mary Kaplan Collection, nyc.
Columbia University Press published a book on the Kaplan family Collection in 1981, T’he Alice M. Kaplan Collection’, cataloged by Linda Bantel, published by the Advisory Council of the Dept of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University, 1981. Printed by the Steinhour Press, Distributed by Columbia University Press.The collection includes museum quality paintings and drawings by Edgar Degas, Egon Schiele, Ammi Phillips. Giorgio Morandi and John Peto, as well as other 20th century masters. Mary Kaplan is the daughter of Alice Kaplan.
Possibly a museum piece. It is extremely rare to see a large silk carpet on the secondary market, which is period, (from the turn of the 19th Century, circa 1890 which isn’t badly worn). Silk as a rule, generally does not last very well after 75 or 100 years of use, and this carpet is in fantastic condition considering its age. There is minimal damage, and minimal wear.
Another wonderful aspect of this carpet is the design. I can say in my lifetime I have never seen a caucasian style silk rug, of this size and quality. The silk carpets tended to be tabriz or kerman style, and the nomadic weavers in the caucasian mountains tended for a coarser thicker wool, as something which would last through the cold months of winter. Silk was for the wealthy urban villages, for use in palaces and mansions, and often hung on the wall, due to its fragile nature. Another surprising aspect of this carpet is the size of the knots. Please refer to detail photos.
105" x 67" (8′ 9" x 5′ 7")
Condition: Very good.
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