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A KIRMAN GALLERY CARPET COMMISSIONED BY HIS EXCELLENCY VAKIL AL-MULK, WOVEN BY MASTER MIR 'ALI KERMANI SON OF MASTER AQA'I QALI, SOUTH EAST PERSIA, DATED AH 1286/1869-70 AD Occasional spots of light wear, localised corrosion, a few light surface marks, selvages rebound, overall very good condition 18ft.8in. x 9ft1in. (570cm. x 276cm.)
The inscription cartouche reads; farmayish-i sarkar vakil al-mulk “[on] the order of His Excellence Vakil al-Mulk.", ‘amal-i ustad qanbar ‘ali kirmani valad-i ustad aqa-yi ghali-baf (sic), “Work of Ustad Qanbar ‘Ali Kirmani, son of Ustad Aqa-yi Ghali-Baf”
In 1859, Muhammad Isma’il Khan Vakil al-Mulk (d.1868) became the newly appointed Governor of the southern Qajar province of Kirman. With the aid of his son, Vakil al-Mulk II, who succeeded him as Governor, he apportioned huge sums of his personal wealth, accrued through other familial mercantile activities, to the urban development of the city of Kirman and its surrounding provinces. Newly erected bathhouses, caravanserais and administrative offices were built including the Vakili Mosque. Between the father and son, their governorships spanned from 1859 to 1878, a period which saw significant social and economic change through the increase of global trade. Vakil al-Mulk had a personal interest in, and infact held the monopoly on, the now lucrative trade in fine Kurk wool which was particular to the province. In commissioning this carpet from one of the most highly respected weavers of Kirman, he was able to simultaneously promote the local weaving industry whilst reinforcing his social standing (James M. Gustafson, Kirman and the Qajar Empire: Local Dimensions of Modernity in Iran, 1794-1914, Oxon, 2016, p.63)
With so much investment given to the city of Kirman and to the wool trade, it is little wonder that when Sir Percy Sykes (then Major Sykes), established the first British Consulate in Kirman in 1895, he wrote that there were about 1,000 carpet weaving looms in Kirman, 100 in Ravar and about 30 in the surrounding villages. The export of carpets from Kirman was continuous and increased with 90 per cent of production going to the United States by the 1930s. For a more detailed survey see Cecil A. Edwards, The Persian Carpet, Great Britain, 1953, pp.197-280.
The intricate overall mille-fleurs design of roses, carnations, lillies, and cypress trees of this carpet was very much in fashion in various media in the mid 19th century. The vertical trees within the design of the present carpet imbue a sense of geometry and guide the eye through the maze of flowers. Similar designs can be found in the tile work of the mosque built by Vakil al-Mulk in Shiraz which display a dense arrangement of flowers but which are contained within an overall cartouche lattice (Gérard Degeorge and Yves Porter, The Art of the Islamic Tile, Paris, 2001, p.165). The same overall cartouche floral lattice can be found on an extremely important and very large Kirman carpet woven for the Throne Room of the Palace of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, dated AH 1286/1869-70 AD, and which sold in these Rooms, 6 April 2006, lot 292. It is remarkable, that despite the dry and arid surroundings of this outlying Persian city, the weavers and artists of Kirman were inspired to create such lush and naturalistic designs - their interpretation of the Persian 'Garden of Paradise'.
