Provenance: Private Danish collection, prior in the collection of the well respected Copenhagen rug dealer Michael Brüel.

Carl Michael Nordlien Brüel (b. 1917-d. 1985) was in his young years an artist and amongst his teachers were the Danish professors Rostrup Bøyesen and Lundstrøm – and from the beginning of the 1950s Fernand Léger in Paris, where Michael Brüel belonged to the circle with among others Richard Mortensen and Robert Jacobsen. He then founded an oriental carpet business in Kompagnistræde in Copenhagen. The business developed to include a unique collection of rare carpets and Michael Brüel was one of our very best carpet experts. He appeared in the television series “Matador”, where he played mandolin at the wedding of Agnes and Lauritz Jensen.

Ahmad Shah Qajar (B. 21 January 1898 – Died in France, 21 February 1930) was Shah of Persia from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the last ruling member of the Qajar dynasty. Ahmad Shah was born in Tabriz and ascended the throne at the age of 12 after the removal of his father Mohammad-Ali Shah by the Parliament on 16 July 1909. Due to his young age, his uncle, Ali-Reza Khan, took charge of his affairs as Regent. Upon reaching his majority Ahmad Shah was formally crowned on 21 July 1914.

The famous Kashani “Mohtasham” workshop was founded by the master weaver Haji Mollah Mohammad Hassan Mohtasham in c. 1845 and continued by his two sons after he retired in the mid-1880s. The weavings of the Mohtasham workshop is associated with carpets of the highest quality within Persian workshop pieces. For more information on Mohtasham carpets, see: Siawosch Azadi’s article ‘The Mark of Mohtasham’. HALI, Issue 160, 2009, pp. 66–73.