Nain Shish-La

Knotted in the finest and most highly prized shishla quality of the exclusive Nain master workshops and bearing a discreet signature which has been interpreted as indicating the work of Habibian, greatest of all Nain master weavers, this is a Persian museum calibre work of the most brilliant technical virtuosity and an ultimately refined aesthetic character which serves to define the Nain decorative tradition in its most incomparably delicate and exquisite form. The creation of an example combining the substantial size, infinite detail of ornament, enchanting variety of the extremely closely harmonised pastel shades which are a hallmark of the most sophisticated Nain specimens, and the quite extraordinary density and precision of the knotting in the finest handspun kurk wool and pure undyed Caspian silk, all of which are such distinctive attributes of this work, indicate the expenditure of immense periods of intensive labour by craftsmen of the most skilled accomplishments, guided, supervised and inspired at every turn by the artistic vision and unique depth of knowledge possessed by the master weaver in whom was invested ultimate responsibility for the heights of excellence embodied in the carpet. It cannot be doubted that a work demanding the input of such skill and effort, the substantial costs of the quantity and quality of wool and silk employed, and the overall direction of a world class carpet artist could only have been made to an individual commission, with the perfection of the end result being designated as the sole aim and requirement of the enterprise as a whole, irrespective of the time and money involved. To this extent, a Nain example of the spectacular achievements exhibited in this piece may be most profitably compared to the great Persian carpets made for the Shahs and their Courts of the two wealthiest and most powerful Persian Imperial dynasties - the Safavids of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and the Pahlavis of the earlier part of this century. By classifying the work within such regal criteria, its eternal worth and magnificence is appropriately emphasised. Very rarely will classic Persian carpets of such incomparable stature be encountered, and they are accordingly items of great art-historical significance. This particular specimen may be considered among the most beautiful and valuable of all recorded Nain master rugs in our stock holdings.