Soumak

Initialed: HB, 1933, VB

The open field is a warm sandy tan crossed by faint horizontal striations, interrupted by three thin wavy lines strung with small rust and slate-blue crosses, plus two isolated blue cross motifs set alone in the ground. A broad rust-red border surrounds the field, filled with stylized white fern-like or comb motifs on each side and a zigzag guard band of blue and cream, all framed by an outer plain oatmeal band. Along the lower border the initials "HB" appear at left and "VB" at right, flanking the date woven in the center.

Directoire Period

The field is laid out as an all-over lattice of interlocking lozenges in muted olive-green, each compartment enclosing a small rosette on a rose-red ground. A wide sand-toned border frames this field with a repeating vine of confronted winged griffins in cream and pale blue, punctuated by pendant medallions and torch-like motifs in brick red and gold. Narrow plain guard stripes in ivory separate the border from the patterned field, and the corners resolve the border's animal and floral scrollwork into neat, mirrored turns.

Having ivory foliate cartouche containing a polychrome floral spray all on the cocoa brown floral field with flowering plants at each corner within the rose flowerhead border.

Directoire Period

A wide gold-toned field, moiré in effect, surrounds a large pale blue circle enclosing a square medallion of octagonal form. Within that square, a brown ground carries a wreath of pastel flowers in pink, ivory, and soft green around a central rosette, framed by a narrow key-pattern border in slate blue and cream. The outer border repeats a chain of interlocking ovals in blue and rust against the gold ground, with small floret medallions set into each corner.

Directoire Period

This carpet is characteristic of the Neoclassical style in vogue at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.

Louis XV Period.

Wool, plant fiber (hemp) and silk

Nested rectangular frames step inward across an ivory ground, each band edged in tan and filled with a zigzag chevron pattern in rust, slate blue, pale blue, and charcoal. The concentric squares diminish toward a small central panel where the same wavy stripe motif repeats at reduced scale, creating a telescoping effect. Colors remain consistent throughout, with the ivory field left open between each framed band.

A geometric composition of irregular rectangular blocks arranged in loose vertical columns, the ground shifting between camel, ivory, and pale grey without a distinct border, only a narrow charcoal band framing the top and bottom edges. The blocks are offset unevenly, some columns wider than others, creating a patchwork-like grid rather than a symmetrical repeat. Surface striations within each block run horizontally, giving a subtle banded texture to the otherwise flat color fields.