In Safavid Persia, silk was one of the most expensive materials available and, therefore, was reserved for use by the court and the most elite workshops where highly skilled weavers executed designs supplied by court artists. The present carpet, with its complex, layered design of spiraling tendrils terminating in palmettes, was originally in the collection of Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934), and is estimated at US$500-700,000.

For the catalogue description, see: Safavid Carpet