BAKSHAISH CAMELHAIR "TREE OF LIFE"
Northwest Persian Antique Rug

(Connoisseur-Caliber) ("Gold Coasts Collection") Reflecting the type of iconography that endlessly fascinates many art rug collectors, this diminutive 19th-century mat is a one-in-the-world piece that exemplifies the cherished totemic aesthetic for which high-mountain Bakshaish rugs are revered. At its compositional core lives a fantasized, fiery cypress as the 'Tree of Life' surrounded by a completely abstract, throne-like nexus of florets and vinery. In an almost humorous way, two quixotic birds dangle from a blossoming vine, each holding a flower in their beak, like an offering to the venerated central motif, perhaps symbolizing the gate connection between Heaven and Earth. The elemental ingenuity of this very early folk art masterpiece impresses beyond its very seldom-found diminutive size, and would greatly enliven a small space on the floor or provide much entertainment and cheerful bemusement at eye level on a wall.

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