Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Lot 23
A rare and early felt backed kilim mat Central Asia, 1st-3rd Century
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£40,000 - £60,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A rare and early felt backed kilim mat
Central Asia, 1st-3rd Century
Central Asia, 1st-3rd Century
of rectangular form, the brown ground ornamented with two bends of woven geometric motifs, applied openwork fringe and tassels to side, backed
179 x 97 cm. excluding tassels
179 x 97 cm. excluding tassels
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired in Kathmandu in 1995.
The present lot is comparable to an earlier kilim mat sold at Christie's, Oriental Rugs and Carpets Including Turkmen Weavings from the Collection of Erik Risman, 5 April 2011, lot 100. The Christie's example was dated between the 4th and 3rd Century BC and attributed to the Pazyryk culture, a nomadic Iron Age people from South Siberia. Though our kilim was produced several centuries later, it appears stylistically to relate to the earlier example.
A carbon 14 test conducted by Rafter Radiocarbon (NZA 9648, R 24522/3), dates the kilim to within 57 years of 145 AD.