Ian Bennett in his article ("Animal and Tree Carpets, an Amorphous Group", Hali 73, February/March 1994, pp.91-99) talks about a group of 19 'naive animal and tree carpets' rugs woven between the 17th and 19th centuries. Bennett had not yet seen this particular rug which was saved and restored by James Burns before the time his article was written. Otherwise he would have placed it in Subgroup B along with the famous 17th century Berlin fragment which Orendi described in 1930 as an "Armenisch-kleinasiatischer Bastard-Teppich". Since Bennett agreed with FR Martin’s assertion that the aesthetics of carpet weaving moved in a direct line from naive but powerful drawing and composition to great sophistication, and that the increase in complexity in a design was clear evidence of a later date he would have probably placed this rug clearly in the 17th century or even older than the Berlin fragmentary carpet. 6ft.6in. x 4ft.5in. (198cm. x 135cm.)
