Hello Jon, I’m very glad that you chose Mearto for your online appraisal, Considering the photographs, overall pattern, knot density and the colours, I concluded that this is an Entirely Hand Knotted Contemporary Afghan Rug, fating back to the period between 2000-2015. So we can clearly say that this piece is quite new. Also, based on the condition you're likely the first owner of it. In Afghanistan there are a lot of carpet weaving provinces but most of the production has been done in near Pakistan border considering the unstable situation in the country. Some pieces were especially done for the US facilities in Afghanistan and many others were exported from the US bases. This pattern we see on your piece is not a classical Afghan Rug pattern, it is more like a contemporary pattern which was created by mixing many foreign motifs and Afghan tradition. Outer and inner smaller borders were feinetely inspired from the classial Persian and Turkish rugs. While the Drak Blue and Deep Red colours are very notably common in Afghan Rugs, we rarely see this Mustard Yellow and this Bright Blue. Decoration of the piece is mostly floral and you can observe flowers everywhere along the pattern. The piece was centrally decorated which means there is a central medallion on the piece, this medallion is also florally decorated and it is accompanied by two hanging lanterns on both sides which are shaped as semi-central medallions to the piece. On inner corner we can easily observe "Boteh" inspired decorations, which are curved water-drop like motifs belonging to Persian Weaving tradition. The knot density of your piece is not very high, average for the period. Therefore the motifs were rendered in a somewhat muddy way but not in a coarse qualitywhich would catch the eye. In good condition without any visible faults. Wool pile was used on your piece. Entirely hand knotted. Dimensions: 11.5 Feet by 8.5 Feet Condition: In good condition without any visible faults. Provenance: It was a gift from current owner's brother, who was stationed in Afghanistan. 800-1200$. Please don’t hesitate to reach us again for more online appraisals on your precious items, thank you for choosing Mearto.
