Lot 144
LARGE USHAK CARPET
WEST ANATOLIA, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Auction: 24 September 2014 at 12:00 BST
Description
the faded rose field with two columns of yellow stylised palmettes between yellow lozenge columns, within narrow blue stylised vine border between bands
Dimensions
635cm x 480cm
Footnote
Provenance: Parkhill House, by Arbroath, Angus
Note: Parkhill House near Arbroath has been the home of the Duncan family for over 200 years. Many of the Duncans who lived at Parkhill had distinguished naval careers including John Alexander Duncan, C.B., R.N. (1878-1943), whose daughter Ursula Duncan (1910-1985) had a distinguished botanical career. Her forebear, Alexander Duncan acquired the property in 1799, when he retired from the East India Company, and built the house in 1804 in the Classical style. Alexander Duncan was a pioneer of plant collecting in the 18th century, sending back hydrangeas and magnolias from Canton in China, and a tree peony, for which he received a fellowship of the Royal Society. A tree peony, identical to the one at Kew, and thought to be amongst the first to survive the sea journey back from China, was planted in the garden at Parkhill, and is now in the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh.
In 1905 a programme of alterations to the house were carried out including moving the Doric porch from the front to the west side of the house and also adding the second floor. This involved moving the drive so that it terminated at the side of the house, thus leaving an uninterrupted view from the front of the house.