Antique Persian Lavar Kerman Pictorial Rug

A wool pile of asymmetric knots on a cotton foundation. Against a straw-bone ground, a full-length Virgin and Child are depicted, lavishly attired in brocaded silks in the South American 17th–19th century Colonial mode, crowned and encircled by a wide halo with dagger-like points. The figures are supported by numerous seraphim and putti above, below, and to the sides. An ecru border with birds and flowers frames the composition. The unusual iconography indicates that the piece was woven for the South American market.