Antique handmade oversized carpet No. 41503 Amritsar, ca. 1870 India 630 x 443 cm

Larger images (will open in new window)

Please click on the thumbnails below for a larger view

main view	second total	back.repair	border.close	close-up border

border.worn	close-up	2nd close-up	3rd close-up	4th close-up

5th close-up	another close-up	needsRepair	needsRepair2	close-up thinner area

Item Number:	41503
Name:	Amritsar, ca. 1870
Country of Origin:	India
Size:	630 x 443 cm
Made:	ca. 1870
Pile:	wool
Foundation (warp and weft):	cotton
Design:	floral / allover
Ground Color:	wine-red
Remarks:	This is a unique handmade / hand-knotted / traditional oriental carpet The pile of this carpet is made of wool Needs some restauration (details in pictures), good pile, cotton foundation. This piece has been dyed with vegetable dyes only.

Price (incl. VAT):	£ 110,000

Estimated delivery time:
4 - 8 working days

add to cart

More about the provenance Amritsar, ca. 1870 | India

The city of Amritsar is located at the border to Pakistan and it is a holy city of the Sikhs. The name has its origin in "Amrita Saras" which means "holy pond". It is the name of the sea in the holy Golden Temple of the Sikhs. Amritsar gained importance as a carpet producing area in the year of 1840. Carpet makers from Kashmir brought their traditional techniques and designs to Amritsar. Therefore Amritsar rugs were made using Kashmir technique and first class wool. The designs mostly follow the Indo-Iranian tradition.

The wool of this rug has been dyed with vegetable dyes only which became very rare in Oriental rugs. Since ca. 1850 synthetic dyes found their way into carpet production. Ever since they replaced natural vegetable dyes more and more also due to the fact that the production of vegetable dyes is very time consuming and difficult. But the "aura of genuineness" can be reached to its full extent with vegetable dyes only. Vegetable dyes are made from leaves, flowers, branches, fruits and roots. They give Oriental rugs a particularly harmonic look. In general Oriental rugs "age" better and more beautifully with vegetable dyes than with synthetic dyes plus they increase a carpet's value. Most of today's production is made with synthetic dyes which makes this rug an even more desirable piece. Unfortunately many rugs in the market are being labelled as being vegetable dyed which in many colors is simply not true which damages the reputation of the carpet industry altogether.