This circa-1850 vintage silk Samarkand rug consists of an elaborate all-over design of floral motifs and arabesques in shades of pink, yellow and inky blue against a field of abashed red. A muted blue border with floral abstractions completes the look of the 19th-century vintage carpet. The vintage Oriental carpets from Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan in the Chinese occupied Autonomous Region of Sinkiang are collectively known as Samarkands - lands of arid steppes, deserts, and mountain ranges traversed for thousands of years by caravans of merchants and traders from China to Western Europe along the Silk Route. Vintage oriental rugs from this region are typically rendered in glossy wool, occasionally embellished with richly brocaded silk and metal thread. Unlike Persian antique area rugs with their reds and blues, Samarkand carpets have soft colors with startling additions: magenta with acid green, peachy beige with brown, saffron yellow with lacquer red, bone with brown or slate blue.