Lahore Pinwheel Carpet

A Mughal Carpet Lahore, Northwest India, early 17th Century, partial ends, losses to pile, minor repairs throughout, reselvaged sides. Approximately 13 ft. 5in. by 5 ft. 7 in. (4.09 m. by 1. 70 m.) Warp: Cotton Z6S, alternate warp strongly depressed, natural white Weft: Cotton, Z3-4, 3 shoots, natural white Pile: Wool, asymmetrical knot open to the left Density: I I horizontal, 10- 1 3 vertical Sides: Not original Ends: Incomplete Colors: Cranberry, indigo, pale to deep Wedgwood, raspberry, lapis, celadon, ochre, seafoam green, black walnut

Lot 122 Sotheby's Fine Oriental and European Carpets December 11, 1991, New York City Est. $40,000-60,000 Provenance: Property of the Benguiat Corporation, sold American Art Galleries, New York, February 29-March 1, 1924, lot 419 (illustrated in black and white) French and Company Collection of Eugene Chesrow, sold Sotheby's, New York, May 18, 1985, lot 49 (illustrated in color) *Graphic Image Courtesy of Sotheby's

Catalogue Notes

The overall design concept of the carpet here offered follows a Persian design prototype found in the numerous carpets woven at Isphahan in the 16th and 17th centuries, for examples, lots 4, 5, 6, Carpets from the J. Paul Getty Museum, sold Sotheby's New York, December 8, 1990; Dimand and Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, figs. 95- 1 00. In these Persian carpets, a burgundy field has an overall repeating pattern of palmettos, vinery and cloudbands within a deep blue palmette border. In the carpet offered here, the design elements have been reinterpreted in a distinctly Mughal fashion. In Persian examples, cloudbands are smaller than the palmettes and usually placed over the tracing vinery as an intricate design detail. Familiar and seemingly entranced with these cloudbands, the Mughal designer of the present carpet has enlarged them to form large serpentine shapes that have a prominence in the composition unfound in Persian counterparts. This predilection for borrowing and reinterpreting Persian motifs can also be found in other Mughal carpets such as the Morgan/Sackville animal carpet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Dimand and Mailey, op.cit., fig. 128; the Morgan/Sackville floral carpet also in the Metropolitan Museum, Dimand and Mailey, ibid., fig. 129. In the Indian animal carpets, the animals have been placed in directional landscapes rather than forming part of a rhythmic symmetrical overall design as in the Persian examples, see lot 56 in this catalogue, and the 16th century animal carpet in the Metropolitan Museum, Dimand and Mailey, ibid., fig. 75. The Morgan/Sackville Mughal floral carpet cited above has a design which lends equal importance to all its elements, palmettes and leaves, where the Persian examples alternate the scale of palmettes and other design motifs.

The cartouche border of the carpet here offered closely resembles that of the Morgan/Sackville Mughal Animal Carpet. The colors and the interior decorations of the lozenges differ in these two carpets, in order to appropriately complement the field patterns of each carpet. The lobed medallions of the present lot echo those of a Mughal floral carpet also in the Metropolitan Museum, Dimand and Mailey, ibid., fig. 133. Here, the medallions are bolder and have a flame-like contour while on the Metropolitan carpet they are smaller and more subdued of drawing. Another unusual feature of the offered carpet are the palmettes which are vertically oriented along the perimeter of the field. In most Persian and Indian examples the exterior palmettes are horizontally oriented while vertical palmettes line the axis of the carpet. Here, the palmettos have been oriented to fit into niches created by the cloudbands and continue the verticality of the composition as a whole. The designer of the carpet here offered has created an undulating, rhythmic composition of possibly unique and quite brazen character. This experimental sensibility can be found in other Mughal carpets such as the examples cited above. All of these carpets are considered by scholars to have been woven in the late 16th/early 17th centuries during the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir. As weaving is believed to have begun in India under the reign of Akbar, this was a relatively early time in Mughal carpet production. Subsequent carpets, such as the group of shrub carpets, for examples, lots 7,8,9, Carpets from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Sotheby's New York, December 8, 1990, depart almost completely from the Persian prototypes and are distinctly Mughal in character. While retaining the design format and motifs of a Persian carpet, the Mughal designer of the present lot has conceived of them in a very individual manner. The carpet here offered, therefore, embodies the transition and growing confidence of Mughal style sensibility.

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

Southwest Asia Time Line

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Index to my Rug Notes

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