Soumak

Provenance: from the drawing room in the estate of the late Alfred Esdaile in Connaught Place in London.

The rust-red ground is covered overall in a small-scale floral lattice and is dominated by a large central lozenge medallion in the same palette, flanked above and below by elongated pendant medallions rendered in deep indigo with polychrome floral cores. Ivory, blue, and rust palmette and rosette borders frame the field in successive narrow bands. The medallion outlines are stepped rather than smoothly curved, giving the shapes an angular, jagged silhouette.

Attributed to Linköpings Hemslöjd.

100% wool woven over a linen foundation.

Provenance: The Ronneby Courthouse. South-East Sweden, ca. 1940-'50.

An open field of deep saturated gold carries a central medallion formed by a radiating star of slender ivory sprays enclosed in a circular guilloche band, with a small rosette at its core. Fan-shaped cornerpieces in ivory anchor each corner, and delicate garlands, tassels, and pendant motifs extend along the vertical axis toward the medallion. The border is a continuous ivory guilloche of interlacing scrolls on the same gold ground, framed by narrow plain stripes.

A golden-yellow ground patterned with a fine trellis of small diamonds surrounds a large central medallion in ivory, its scalloped outline enclosing concentric rings of pink acanthus scrolls, rosettes, and tasseled swags around a small oval floral cartouche. Sprays of pink and white roses with green foliage occupy each spandrel, and the border repeats the acanthus-and-ribbon scrollwork against a pale sage band framed by narrow striped guard stripes. The palette throughout stays within ochre, ivory, dusty pink, sage green, and touches of powder blue.

A sage-green field is filled with a dense grid of medallions set within ovals and lozenges, each enclosing floral rosettes rendered in gold, rust, plum, and cream against small dark accents. Between the roundels, cruciform floral sprigs fill the negative space, and the composition is framed by a wide brown border patterned with stylized oak-leaf and acorn motifs, flanked by narrower guard stripes in tan and dusty rose.

The rust-orange field is covered edge to edge with an overall lattice of scrolling floral vines rendered in slightly darker rust, punctuated by rounded slate-blue blossom clusters repeated in a regular grid. A slim blue-grey guide stripe separates the field from the wide border, which carries a continuous scrolling floral vine in orange against the same rust tone, framed by narrow plain and patterned outer stripes in muted brown and blue.

A soft blue-gray field carries an all-over repeat of gilt scrolling foliate cartouches, each enclosing a small figural or animal vignette in coral, ochre, and muted rose, with birds, fish, and other creatures appearing amid the interlaced acanthus forms. Rows of these medallion-like clusters alternate with cream and gold connecting scrollwork, creating a dense lattice effect across the surface. The composition is framed by a plain, unadorned terracotta-red border with a narrow blue-gray inner guard stripe.

The field is organized as an all-over golden trellis enclosing small blue diamonds each centered with a pale rosette, the lattice interrupted at center by a radiating palmette medallion in cream and rose tones and at each corner by a garland of pink and peach blossoms with green foliage. A narrow dark meandering vine border edges the composition, framed by a plain camel-toned outer band, with a small cartouche motif marking the mid-point of the top and bottom borders.