This flatweave is the largest in the collection, made with the infinitely repeatable design of a major elephant’s foot gul, alternated by the smaller, minor guls, so often seen in Afghan Esari carpets. The major guls contain an idiosyncratic and varied iteration on a floral bouquet motif, with a star motif in place of the minor gul. The structure of this carpet is very much taken from the Turkmen tradition, but this design rug deviates completely from the Turkmen in colour, with their usual field of deep reds, into a stony brown field with splashes of periwinkle blue, lemon yellow and oxblood red, pastel tones more typically seen on the Persian city carpets from the mid-20th century. This, coupled with quality of the line, gives a light, playful character to the rug.
