Tabriz Carpet
Northwestern Persia
12.5 x 19.4
Antique, c. 1890
Wool pile of symmetric knots  on a cotton foundation
The rust red field is almost completely covered by a dense allover textile patterning pf ecru dented ovoid, pointed cartouches enclosing either cypresses or flowering vases. Navy roughly outlines larger lozenges with rosette centres. Further there are lazy, fat rust figure eights with pale blue striated palmettes. Filling any available reserves are more bud sprays. Strip style narrow red border with two types of navy, lobed cartouches with pale blue outlines. Ecru minors with palmettes. The ‘Hajji Jalili’ ascription seems to apply to any suitably antique Tabriz weaving with strip style main border and prominent rust-reds. We consider it more a mark of quality than an ascription of exact origin.