DORASHT "GARDEN OF PARADISE"
Northeast Persian Antique Carpet

(High-Collectible) ("One of “60 Best-of-Their-Type Rugs Sold in 2023") Antique Dorasht carpets, typically commissioned works of grand scale for local and European nobility, were woven near the capital of Meshed in the Khorassan district of Northeast Persia. This mountainous region has an illustrious history of antique Persian carpet weaving dating back to the late 16th-century. This carpet, displaying an inconceivable level of detail, presents a virtuoso “Garden of Paradise” scene in an explosion of dense foliage with umpteen individually rendered blossoms and birds hidden in the branches of the trees. Gazelle and other animals including hunting dogs reside in the lower portion of the alabaster field and in the upper tree branches. Although it is on a much larger scale than a prayer rug, the top of its field ends in a prayer arch, perhaps to show that earthly life is united with heavenly forces. The upper corner spandrels are based in luminous cornflower blue and filled with delicate curling vinery, leaves, and multi-scaled blooms. The burgundy main border is decorated with an entire herd of meandering sheep tended by their canine chaperones, interspersed with detailed broad flowers and vinery.

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