BAKSHAISH "DRAGON AND PHOENIX" CAMELHAIR
Northwest Persian Antique Carpet

(High-Collectible) ("One of “60 Best-of-Their-Type Rugs Sold in 2022") This extraordinarily finely knotted, breathtakingly artistic Bakshaish Camelhair evokes an age-old power and an elusive "noble primitivism." A masterwork, it employs layer-upon-layer of potent, symbolic design work. These include tulips resting within the buttercup medallion, symbolic of "Perfect Life," and Ram's Horns (symbolizing the search for eternal life) in the two rose-hued vertical pendants. The main symbol drawn in the Bakshiash style involves a stylized "Dragon and Phoenix" motif interlocking around the medallion against a radiant sapphire blue field. The scaly salmon-toned Dragons characterize a fierce and beneficent supernatural force. The Phoenix, in the Bakshaish symbolism, expresses a unique take on this primal energy--as eternally linked to and in partnership with the dragon--but sensed more than seen. Thus, Phoenix motifs are the miniature abstracted ivory figures connected in just four places to the dragon's body and the center medallion. One could interpret this singular presentation of this archetypal, mythical symbology as implying it is the Phoenix that keeps the Dragon energy connected to the cosmic center. The entire highly abstracted centerpiece, displaying an anthropomorphic shape, is outlined in a stepped crimson edging, again recalling the Dragon imagery. Its undyed camelhair surround replete with delicate flora evokes earthly nature. A wide unadorned camelhair outer border, displaying the constant natural striation of the fiber, frames the entire carpet.

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