Early Turkmen Timuri Rug Mousepad

$25.00 at de Young Museum.

This masterpiece is one of the oldest examples of a type woven by the Timur (Taimuri), a tribe of mixed Turko-Mongol origin living primarily in a mountainous region extending from the northwest corner of Afghanistan into neighboring Iran.  Descended from east Persian carpets of the Safavid period, the design of this classic Timuri example consists of a central tree of life with alternating pairs of hexagonal medallions geometricized palmettes. Smaller medallions and floral motifs are interspersed throughout…