The Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, Christie's London, February 14, 1996, lot 150
Acquired by Bernheimer on August 9, 1937 as an "Isphahan Fragment 16 Jahrhundert blausgrundig" (a 16th century blue-ground Isphahan fragment)

Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Carpets, The Art Club of Chicago, 1926, no.21.
Ausstellung Orient-Teppiche, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 1950, no.77
Persische Teppiche, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg and Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1971, no.6.
Carpets of Central Persia, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, 1976, no.32.

Friedrich Sarre and Hermann Trenkwald, Alt-Orientalische Teppiche, Vienna, 1926-28, Vol. II, pl. 8
Arthur Upham Pope, Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Carpets, The Art Club of Chicago, 1926, no.21.
Kurt Erdmann, 'Ein neuerworbene persische Teppich' in Berliner Museen, 1929, p.8.
Rudolf Neugebauer and Siegfried Troll, Handbuch der orientalischen Teppichkunde, Leipzig, 1930, p.16.
Siegfried Troll, Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 1929-30, p.250.
Ausstellung Orient-Teppiche, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 1950, no.77, pp.68-69 and pl.25.
Otto Bernheimer, Alte Teppiche des 16.-18.Jahrhunderts der Firma L.Bernheimer, Munich, 1959, pl.32.
Persische Teppiche, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1971, no.6, pp.26-27.
May H. Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, Kent, 1976, pl. 8, cat. no. 32, p. 62-63
Hali, Issue 86, p. 133.
Elisabeth Gill, "Passion, Fashion and Greed," Hali, issue 100, p. 165, fig. 5

Sewn on dark blue linen backing, reverse with natural linen backing with an approximately 5in. by 5in. window to show structure. Pile ranges from good, near original closely shorn 1/8in. to low to knotheads in areas of scattered moth damage throughout. An approximately 1/4in. by 2in. rectangular hole along left side and a small 1/4in. by 1/4in. hole in upper left corner, both visible in catalogue illustration. Further losses to pile and knots with foundation exposed at around center and in border, also visible in catalogue illustration. Further minor areas with exposed foundation due to some oxidation and moth damage. Sides and ends not extant. Very good colors, good pile, dense weave, in good overall condition. Please note that a license may be required to export textiles, rugs and carpets of Iranian origin from the United States. Clients should enquire with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding export requirements. Please check with the Carpet department if you are uncertain as to whether a lot is subject to this restriction or if you need assistance.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present fragment’s design is particularly graceful and beautiful having “the easy fluidity of the arabesques as they glide over and under across the Saxe-blue field,” (Hali, Issue 86, p.133). With its strikingly fresh and brilliant colors and elegantly rendered design elements, this fragment is related most closely to a contemporaneous ‘vase’ carpet fragment in the collection of the Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, see Friedrich Sarre and Heinrich Trenkwald, Old Oriental Carpets, Vol. 1, Vienna and Leipzig, 1926, pl. 31 (detail). The Vienna fragment is not only related in field design but also in border decoration; the systematically interlaced vines and arabesques executed in golden yellows and dark indigos on a crimson ground in the main border and the reciprocal trefoils of the inner guard border woven in complementary hues are nearly identical. Another related example is the famed Comtesse de Béhague ‘vase’ carpet, sold Christie’s London, April 15, 2010, lot 100. Here, both the primary border and the field designs are different, but the carpet was woven with a similar color palette – and with the same technique. In the Béhague carpet, however, the tightly and symmetrically arranged saz leaves in the field and the geometrical nature of the primary and secondary floral motifs in the border render the carpet somewhat rigid overall, while in the present example the extended arabesques are placed so as to provide adequate space for the secondary decoration of blossoming branches and palmettes. In this way, the present lot is comparable to the Clark sickle-leaf ‘vase’ carpet, sold Sotheby’s New York, June 5, 2013, lot 12. Interestingly, the half palmette by the border and the realistically-drawn flowering benches of the present lot are very similar to corresponding design elements found in the Clark carpet. Similar half palmettes also appear in another celebrated ‘vase’ carpet; that in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon, see Richard Ettinghausen, Persian Art: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1985, pl. 30. These spaciously-placed arabesques are comparable to those found in a rug and a blue-ground fragment in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see Joseph V. McMullan, Islamic Carpets, New York, 1965, pp. 90-91, nos. 20 and 21, respectively. Also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is another ‘vase’ carpet with similar arabesques at one end, comparable half palmettes and border design, see M.S. Dimand and Jean Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, p. 74, fig. 104. Besides its unquestionable beauty and rarity, what makes this lot highly desirable is its condition; with the exception of scattered moth damage and some surface wear the pile has remained close to the original, enhancing the jewel-like colors and giving a tactile luxuriousness to the piece.