37

Extremely Fine and Remarkable Kirman Leaders of the World (Mashahir) Rug, Persia, last quarter 19th century

together with a 1924 exhibition announcement and an English key to the 54 pictorial figures, from Moses to Napoleon; 7 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 7 in.

  • Provenance: Serdar Raschid, Governor of Tabriz, 1919; Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Kentucky; Sotheby's New York, December 17, 1999, lot 182; a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania collector.

    The 1924 exhibition announcement notes: "It seems inconceivable that one human being could have had the skill, the artistic talent, and the infinite patience to create such a rug. There are over 850 hand-tied knots to each square inch- more than 4,000,000 in the entire rug, taking one man more than five years working 10 hours a day, to complete."

    The English exhibition key reads:

    "Big inscription on front of the temple in upper part of rug - ‘THE PORTRAITS OF THE GREATEST AND MOST REMARKABLE MEN OF ALL THE WORLD'

    Names in Border Medallions -

    1 Moses
    2 Solomon
    3 Romulus
    4 Confucius
    5 Themistocles
    6 Leonidas
    7 Cyrus
    8 Pericles
    9 Socrates
    10 Alexander the Great
    11 Hannibal
    12 Caesar
    13 Trajan
    14 Kholdvig
    15 Constantine the Great
    16 St. Paul
    17 Kosroes the Great
    18 Mohammed
    19 Omar (The Khalif)
    20 Abdurrahman
    21 Charlemagne
    22 Haroun-Ar Rachid
    23 William the Conqueror
    24 Saladin
    25 Richard (King of England)
    26 Ghengis Khan
    27 Lewis IX
    28 Newton
    29 Edward III
    30 Duke De Guise
    31 Tamerlane
    32 Charles the Brave
    33 Christopher Columbus
    34 Henry IV (France)
    35 Ferdinand V
    36 (Vasko de) Gama
    37 Leon X
    38 Bajezid (Sultan)
    39 Gustav Vasa
    40 Francis I
    41 Julius II
    42 Charles V
    43 Sikste V
    44 Henry IV (England)
    45
    46 Louis XIV
    49 Peter the Great
    50 Charles XII
    51 Frederic II
    52 Cook, Navigator
    53 Washington
    54 Napoleon

    THE ABOVE IS A CORRECT TRANSLATION OF THE NAMES APPEARING IN BORDER OF PERSIAN PORTRAIT RUG. [signed] N. Martinovitch, Formerly Professor of Moslem Languages at University of Pertrograd.

    April 17th, 1924
  • Condition: Please note: All property is sold "AS IS" and any statement, whether oral or written, is given as a courtesy and shall not be deemed as a guarantee, warranty, or representation of the authenticity of authorship, physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of the property or otherwise. The absence of a condition report does not imply the item is in perfect condition.

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January 30, 2022 11:00 AM EST
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Grogan & Company

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