Vase carpet, fragment

The whimsical flowers, palmettes, and vase in this fragment are characteristic of a group known as “vase carpets,” named after the characteristic motif and united by certain structural similarities. The large scale of these motifs suggests that the fragment once formed part of a sizable carpet. Like a number of other Safavid rugs, it was cut up upon entering the market in the twentieth century so it could be sold in parts. It has been cleverly pieced together to hide areas of joining, like at the top of the vase, where blue-stemmed flowers turn into much larger stems courtesy of a different fragment probably taken from the same carpet.