IMAGE DETAILS

Chinese Lotus Blossom carpet fragment, Ming Dynasty/early 17th century, 2.24 x 3.24m. Sotheby's London, lot 66. Est: £25,000-35,000

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10 October 2005

First up is Bonhams Knightsbridge with their carpet sale on Tuesday 11 October. The best of sale (in 0ur opinion) is lot 50, a Northwest Persian carpet, probably Bakhshaish that belongs to a small and rare group of ivory ground examples with an estimate of £600-800. Lot 122 is likely to be one of the highest yielders of the crop (est: £20-25,000): Arts and Crafts carpets seem to be perennially popular and this is as a good Donegal carpet. Also look out for lot 31, a worn but attractive example of a Finnish Rya with a deep blue field and green 'V' motif border (est: £500-800). Lot 37 is a curiosity: a Tuducrug with a Lotto design (est: £1,000-1,500).

Sotheby's sale on 12 October has a strong line up, even with the last minute withdrawal by the trustees of the wonderful mid-17th century Lady Baillie Mughal 'Shrub' carpet. Watch out for lot 1, a late 18^th century Moroccan silk embroidered star roundel (est: £3,500-5,000) and lot 3, a silk lampas Sufi alam banner from Syria or North Africa inscribed with invocations and the name of the weaver (est: £10-15,ooo). There is a good group of Turkmens offered, of which lot 6 is perhaps the prettiest: it is an 'Ersari' chuval from the Middle Amu Darya region with possible links in design to ikat weavings and an attractive alem.

Jacqueline Coulter, head of the carpet department at Sotheby's London has, for the second consecutive season, put together a strong looking sale. In addition to a good range of southwest Persian tribal rugs, she has gathered together a group of Polish sashes (see Manfred Holst's 'History of the Polish Sash' in HALI 84,). Although they may not attract a large number of bidders, they are nevertheless interesting. These sashes would have been worn over the zhupan, a long sleeved, high-collared shirt worn over a long, kaftan-like robe called a kontush. Authentic Caucasian carpets are lamentably few and far between these days, but a strong group has been assembled for the sale. The cover lot (66), is a fantastic example of a late Ming rug (see HALI fol.5, p.136) made for Imperial usage and is bound to sell well.

Finally on the Thursday (13 October), Christie's is likely to prove itself (again) to be the leader of the pack under William Robinson's management. Lot 151 is a gorgeous example of a late 18^th-century East Turkestan carpet (est: 30-40,000) with a five-flower lattice design which sold at Sotheby's London on 19 October 1994 (lot 213) for £35,600 (See HALI 78, p.132). A strong group of Turkish classical carpets will be on show (see lots 100-203). Lot 100, the cover lot is an unusual and controversial Deccan carpet from Central India (est: £100-150,000) which is catalogued as late 17^th-18^th century but there is room for discussion regarding the date. We have never seen such a large Deccan carpet.

Christie's are also offering an attractive group of silk Kum Kapi carpets (lots 20-22) and a wonderful Yarkand pomegranate design carpet (lot 121) pictured on the back of the catalogue should also fare well.