A late 19th-century Bessarabian carpet from around 1890, measuring approximately 335.4 × 426.7 cm (about 11’0″ × 14’0″). The composition is unusual and pictorial — a centaur figure rendered on a deep black field, framed by a grey-toned border. (“Centaury” in the seller listing is a misspelling of “centaur” — confirmed by the ARS catalog title.)
Bessarabia is the historical name for a region between the Prut and Dniester rivers, today divided between Moldova and Ukraine. Bessarabian flat-weave carpets are part of a Eastern European folk-textile tradition that combined Ottoman, Russian, and European decorative vocabularies, with pictorial and figural compositions that are rare in the broader market.
Hand-stitched wool flat-weave. Authentic one-of-a-kind antique European carpet.
At a glance
· Origin: Bessarabia (today’s Moldova / Ukraine region) · Period: Circa 1890 · Material: Wool · Weave: Flat weave
· Dimensions: ~335.4 × 426.7 cm (≈11’0″ × 14’0″)
· Ground color: Black · Border color: Grey · Design: Pictorial — centaur figure · SKU: 18181