The Williams Medallion and Animal Carpet Fragment

Medallion and Animal Carpet Fragment

East Persia, Central Asia, or Mughal India, Circa 1580, 16 ft. 11 in. v x 15 ft. h (515 x 457 cm)

Warp: Cotton, z5s, ivory. Double-warped. (See High Ply Count Cotton Warps)

Weft: Wool and silk, X3. First and third shoots, z wool, ivory or mixed dark natural shades. In several places an ivory strand and a dark mixed strand may be plied z2s or simply run together. Second shoot, z or u silk, usually ivory, but some dark blue, blue, light brown, wine red, red-violet, or green. No instances noted of single shoots instead of x3.

Pile: Wool, 2Z, clipped to cover collars. Senna knotting, open at the left. h 15 xv16 (240 knots per sq. in.).

Ends: Cut

Sides: Cut

Condition: Both ends missing. Practically the entire ground of field reknotted in green,'6 now light brown to greenish. Much fading of original dyes. Back appears very weathered, but brighter than the face.

Quality: Fine. Fairly flexible.

Pile colors: Ivory, black-brown, greenish dark brown, light brown, tan, purplish wine red, pink, bright light red-orange, light yellow, light green, medium green-blue-green, aqua, dark blue, light medium blue, light blue, pale blue (lighter blues abrashed)

P U B L I S H E D

Martin, 1906-8, Pt. 3, P. 36, fig. 91; Sarre, 1908, pl. XIII; Riefstahl, 1917, figs. 1, 2, 5; Pope, 1938-39, pl. 1129; Beattie, 1976, Sheffield, p. 86, no. 63; Ellis, 1978, "Philadelphia," p. 30, fig. 2

E X H I B I T E D

Munich, 1910: New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

PROVENANCE

With Stefano Bardini, Florence (according to Martin, 1906-8, Pt. 3, P. 38); with Indoudijian (Indjoudjian), Paris (according to ibid.); with M. F. Schutz, Paris (according to Sarre, 1908): The Joseph Lees Williams Memorial Collection , Philadelphia Museum of Art.1

The normal responce o a carpet such as this is to call it a Persian Carpet. However Ellis attributes this to East Persia, Central Asia, or Mughal India. The obvious question is why?

This Carpet presents a problem because it uses a warp that is not normally seen in a Classical Persian Carpet. Dr. May Beattie's landmark book on vase carpets she showed that over 90 percent of all vase carpets use 4 ply warps and 6.25 percent use high ply warps. Of that 6.25 percent all were attributed to post 1850. I do however have a problem with attributing this carpet to Mughal India. Aside from the aberrant warps I would have attributed this carpet to the court production of 16th century Khorasan.

Being a man of fairly limited education I did not know what an Onager was. If I had studied my Greek a little harder it would have been obvious, onagros, i. e. wild ass. I should note that Onagers are one of the more common animals in Persian art.

Detail from The Salting Carpet 3.

The trees relate back to Timurid miniatures but were popular in the Mashad school of miniatures. The Birds are more closely related to The Salting type small bird. It certainly seems closer to a vase carpet, a Sanguszko carpet or a Salting type than it does to Mughal Carpet. There is a possibility that this is the initial work of Sabsavar weavers who fled to India after the murder of Ebrahim Mirza in 1578 or Herati weavers who fled the Safavid after the fall of Herat to the Persians in 1598.

N. B. Rather than coming to a conclusion I am merely collecting data in hopes that the answers will become clear later on. The key to my system is that by gathering seemingly random data at a certain point patterns coalesce and then conclusions may be drawn.

Ellis, Charles Grant. Oriental Carpets in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1988.
Beattie, May H. Carpets of Central Persia. Sheffield: World Of Islam Festival, 1976, insert.
Bennett, Ian et al. Rugs & Carpets of the World. Edison: Wellfleet Press, 1977. Frontispiece

Note: To further a long term research project I am collecting data. When a piece such as this may be of interest to others I have decided to share my notes prior to culmination of the project. As such the attributions are my own and may be different that the catalogue attribution. Any additions, information, or corrections, would be appreciated.

For Further Reading:

Guide to Rugs & Books

La Miniature En Orient

Notes on the War on Terrorism

Southwest Asia Time Line

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Persian Rugs the O'Connell Guides