A late 19th century Persian kirman rug, the cream field with a dense overall design of leafy flowering vines and flowerheads within a camel floral motif border. During the sixteenth century, Shah Abbas I reportedly gave antique rugs embroidered with gold and silver thread as tribute to the Ottoman Court. The fame of these oriental weavings rapidly spread across Western Europe. From the mid sixteenth century through the eighteenth century, the city of Kirman was celebrated for ‘vase’ Persian carpets, a term deriving from the depiction of vase motifs in many examples woven there. By the nineteenth century, Kirman was recognized for exceptional oriental rugs in the best Persian tradition.