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Old or New? Milfleur / Tree of Life
acp Offline
#1 Posted : Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:27:18 AM(UTC)
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I've been watching a somewhat unusual milfleur / tree of life rug on ebay:

http://rover.ebay.com/ro...&mtid=824&kw=lg

I'm skeptical that it really is 100+ years old based on the style and general appearance of the rug. I have also noticed a handful of newer milfleur rugs on ebay and this one feels more similar to the newer ones. The closest old rug I've been able to find that is similar to this one is the one below:

http://www.rugrag.com/po...-Vintage-1865-1915.aspx

The colors in the 1885 milfleur are definitely less vivid and more time-worn. However, the style of cypress trees composed of smaller flowers looks similar to the carpet on ebay. So I'm wondering if the carpet on ebay is a newer rug based on one of these older milfleur designs.

Assuming it is a newer rug, the price seems a bit steep. What do people think about the age of the carpet and the asking price of $6625?
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RugPro Offline
#2 Posted : Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:04:53 AM(UTC)
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The one on ebay is old, but I would not say it is 1850-1870. Perhaps 1900 - 1920 but it could be older. The rug has everything to indicate a Kerman, except two things - the red does not appear to have cochineal red looking at the front. this would push it into the 20th century if it were a Kerman in my opinion. Also, and I may catch some disagreements with KAD, little-persia, Bukhara and other rug people on the forum, but the knots are more square on this carpet, and overall colors a bit brighter. Around the turn of 1900, many of these Kerman designs, among others, were being made in India. This could explain the knots appearing a bit more rigid, colors more garish and other - a slight possibility, although I am not convinced yet.

See for example this rug on ebay:

http://rover.ebay.com/ro...&mtid=824&kw=lg

It's being advertised as kerman, but if you look at the back of the rug, it is courser weave with brighter colors toned down. This is not atypical of kermans from 1920-30, but the piles would often be thicker in a real Kerman. In my opinion, this rug is also Indian origin

The only way to settle this would be to see the knot count in comparison with a measurable object like a quarter or ruler, and a photograph which has not been adjusted with photo editing programs like lightroom or photoshop. It is very easy to oversaturate colors in programs like this.
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