SERAB CAMELHAIR RUNNER, Northwest Persian
2' 10" x 14' 0" Late 19th Century Price: $15,000
(High-Decorative)
("New Arrivals Gallery") In fabulous condition at 130-140 years of age, this enrapturing antique camelhair runner offers Serab’s timeless, spirited artistry in widely sought-after narrow dimensions. Sprouting elemental tree pendants, diamond medallions with brightly colored florets float like rafts upon a honeycombed lattice. They are aligned in a pleasingly irregular composition of two singles and one double, divided by partially engaged medallions that evoke a sense of lateral compression. This ancient custom of intentional asymmetry has the subliminal role of keeping the art fresh by including a feature that breaks the repetition of a pattern, as in this expertly drawn piece. In the main border, jewel-like boteh pods hang from double helix vinery of celadon and jungle green, except at the bottom where a totally spontaneous development has occurred, fascinatingly without disturbing the overall flow of the design.