Isfahan vase carpet

A beautiful late nineteenth century vase carpet from Isfahan that reveals a tree of life surrounding an even more perfect bouquet of human floral arrangement in its vase. It is a testament to the refined high quality of professional artistic carpet production in Isfahan at the time quite comfortable in its rivalry with Kashan. At the base of the cedar tree are various creatures, the phoenix and a dragon with the spots of a leopard that is protecting the chain of being from a predatory cat; above them a dove and a parrot and then two eagles claiming a snake; in the uppermost branches are three birds of paradise. The whole of the garden is alive and provides a glorious surround to the roses and the others flowers stemming from the vase. The symmetry and the balance is a celebration in its own right.