The pale straw semi-open field differs oh so slightly [at least in the picture] from the sandy-straw border ground. A floating oval wreath of palmettes, forked and curled leaves and arabesque bits expands at the corners and is amplified by complex palmettes at the long field ends. In the centre is an elliptical twelve flame-lobed medallion enclosing an asymmetric flower pattern, and it is edged by floriate swags and racemes. The pendants, usually so salient in most Persian medallion rugs, have shrunk and have been detached outside the racemes at each medallion end. A diminutive arrowhead chain runs around the field just inside the border system. The pattern is not traditionally Persian, nor is it Western in the Aubusson-Savonnerie-Art Deco-Modern sense either. Persian urban carpets of this transition period, whether from Tabriz, Kashan, Kerman or Tehran, are often luxurious, technically accomplished, artistically refined productions just “Oriental” enough to be recognizable, yet pointing toward a real, deep style change which will be manifested much more widely after WWII and especially in the 1960’s. The sandy ivory tripartite border system shows matching minors with reversing palmettes, and a main stripe with reversing petal palmettes on a bracketing vine meander. Detail tones include: green, dark brown, ivory, light blue and lemon yellow, among others, more than a dozen in all. Crisp tones and well-defined applications. The weave is particularly fine, with a short clipped, erect pile of excellent, resilient wool, on an all-cotton foundation in asymmetric (Persian) knots.
