Antique Persian Mashad Large Carpet

A wool pile of asymmetric knots on a cotton foundation. The pale blue-green field displays an unusual allover pattern of squared cartouches enclosing oval palmettes and paired bent leaves, arranged in an almost complete six-column layout. Though highly stylized, the design bears a distant resemblance to the Herati pattern. The main border abrashes from muted rose and dusty pink to light taupe and features slanted-petal lotus palmettes alternating with upright and inverted petal palmettes. Squiggling cloud bands decorate the ecru minor borders.