Lot Essay
A carbon dating analysis was performed on the Wind Carpet by the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich on 1 October 1987, sample numbers ETH-2871 and ETH-2872. The mid value for the two samples give a 68 probabilty of a date between 1437 and 1508 and a 95 probability of a date between 1413 and 1606 AD.
This carpet is the only surviving complete example of an extremely rare group of carpets. The only other surviving fragmentary piece is in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (inv. no. 10/2940), published by Kurt Erdmann: Oriental Carpets, An Account of their History, London 1969, p. 27, fig. 45; for a colour illustration see Gantzhorn, V.: The Christian Oriental Carpet, Köln 1991, pl.251. In addition to the two extant carpets a third is depicted on a painting of King Henry VIII amongst Henry VII, Jane Seymour and their daughter Elizabeth, painted by Hans Holbein as a fresco for the Palace of Whitehall in 1537, lost in a fire in 1698, but surviving in two copies by Remigius van Leemput, painted in 1667 and 1669 (the 1667 copy is at Hampton Court; "Portraits of King Henry VIII", HALI, III, 3, 1981, pp. 176-180, fig. 1).
Definitely of Anatolian origin, this group of carpets can be shown to be transitional in character, with design details that can be traced back to earlier prototypes. Their identifying features are the similar measurements, the pseudo-kufic borders and the sequence of eight-pointed stars filling the central field. The widths of all three carpets are fairly close. The two surviving pieces are 2.17m and 2.34m wide, their central stars over 1m; the carpet on the Hampton Court painting appears to coincide. Almost identical colours are used in the arrangement of the ground and decorative details of the three pieces. The present piece and the Munich carpet use comparable 'open' pseudo-kufic borders, whereas the painted specimen uses a 'closed' variant. The border on our carpet is, however, inconsistent in itself. On one quarter it uses a border with fully developed kots and terminals; in the rest the knots and terminals are abridged. More important for the characterisation of this group are the large eight-pointed central stars set sequentially. Our piece has four, the Munich piece may have possessed four (two only surviving) while the painted carpet probably had three stars. The centre of each star consists of radiating circles of small stars and batons. Each main outer band comprises a succession of small hooked hexagons containing S-shapes and anchor motifs, apparently randomly selected. A similar border can be seen on a 15th century para-Mamluk prayer rug published in Gans-Ruedin: Der Persische Teppich, Munich 1978, p. 145 and adjoining plate.
In addition to the star arrangement the Munich carpet has smaller octagons set in each corner of the central field. This particular detail, together with the sequential arrangement of large central motifs relate the design to the 'Holbein IV' group of carpets which replace the present stellar panels with octagons, but which otherwise have an identical arrangement. Three examples of this 'Holbein' group are located in Berlin (Spuhler, F., Oriental Carpets in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, London 1987, cat. nos. 4-6, pp. 30-31, illus. pp. 147-9) as well as others in the Textile Museum Washington and in the Türk ve Islam Museum, Istanbul. Carpets such as the first Berlin piece are often attributed to the Bergama region of Western Anatolia, although Spuhler (op.cit., p.31) prefers a broader 'Western Anatolian' attribution. A similar provenance seems certain for the present carpet. This is supported by the structural analysis published by Klose: op. cit., p. 2182.
The design arrangement both of this group and of the 'Holbein' IV group, derives from Mamluk carpets, produced in Egypt in the first half of the 15th century. The majority of these are characterised by the use of single central eight-pointed stars, often surrounded by smaller octagons, as in the Munich piece (for example Spuhler, F.: Islamic Carpets and Textiles in the Keir Collection, London 1978, p. 67, no. 32, plate p. 70; and Erdmann, K., Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, London 1970, p. 142, fig. 179). This design in turn can be traced back to the early Islamic Period, demonstrated by a few pile-woven and brocaded rugs (de Unger, E.: 'An Ancestor of the Mamluk Carpets', HALI, V, 1, 1982, pp. 45-46; also Christie's, Islamic Art and Indian Miniatures, 28 April, 1992, lot 322).
Carbon-dating undertaken in Z/uurich on a sample from our carpet suggests a late fifteenth or early sixteenth century dating. This is supported by the characteristics of the Munich fragment and the evidence given by the copy of Hans Holbein's fresco. The latter would imply an attribution to the early sixteenth century, although the slightly looser weave, the occasional inaccuracies of the interpretation of the design, and the darker colouring of the present carpet in comparison to the Munich piece could be taken to imply a later date. More external evidence for an early sixteenth century date is furthermore presented by the occurrence of carpets of the 'Holbein IV' type on European painting from the late fifteenth century onwards (Klose, C.: 'Einige Teppichdarstellungen in französischen Stundenbüchern des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts', HALI, II, 1, 1979, pp. 81-82).
It is likely that the conquest of Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517 brought a new wealth of carpet designs into the Anatolian repertoire. After the 16th century, carpets comprising large central star-designs remain very common in Anatolia, as can be shown from a large number of surviving examples, the design also being taken up, as with so many Anatolian designs, in later products from the Caucasus. The present carpet, and the group connected with it, provide a vital design link between early carpet design and the later better known groups.
This carpet is the only surviving complete example of an extremely rare group of carpets. The only other surviving fragmentary piece is in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (inv. no. 10/2940), published by Kurt Erdmann: Oriental Carpets, An Account of their History, London 1969, p. 27, fig. 45; for a colour illustration see Gantzhorn, V.: The Christian Oriental Carpet, Köln 1991, pl.251. In addition to the two extant carpets a third is depicted on a painting of King Henry VIII amongst Henry VII, Jane Seymour and their daughter Elizabeth, painted by Hans Holbein as a fresco for the Palace of Whitehall in 1537, lost in a fire in 1698, but surviving in two copies by Remigius van Leemput, painted in 1667 and 1669 (the 1667 copy is at Hampton Court; "Portraits of King Henry VIII", HALI, III, 3, 1981, pp. 176-180, fig. 1).
Definitely of Anatolian origin, this group of carpets can be shown to be transitional in character, with design details that can be traced back to earlier prototypes. Their identifying features are the similar measurements, the pseudo-kufic borders and the sequence of eight-pointed stars filling the central field. The widths of all three carpets are fairly close. The two surviving pieces are 2.17m and 2.34m wide, their central stars over 1m; the carpet on the Hampton Court painting appears to coincide. Almost identical colours are used in the arrangement of the ground and decorative details of the three pieces. The present piece and the Munich carpet use comparable 'open' pseudo-kufic borders, whereas the painted specimen uses a 'closed' variant. The border on our carpet is, however, inconsistent in itself. On one quarter it uses a border with fully developed kots and terminals; in the rest the knots and terminals are abridged. More important for the characterisation of this group are the large eight-pointed central stars set sequentially. Our piece has four, the Munich piece may have possessed four (two only surviving) while the painted carpet probably had three stars. The centre of each star consists of radiating circles of small stars and batons. Each main outer band comprises a succession of small hooked hexagons containing S-shapes and anchor motifs, apparently randomly selected. A similar border can be seen on a 15th century para-Mamluk prayer rug published in Gans-Ruedin: Der Persische Teppich, Munich 1978, p. 145 and adjoining plate.
In addition to the star arrangement the Munich carpet has smaller octagons set in each corner of the central field. This particular detail, together with the sequential arrangement of large central motifs relate the design to the 'Holbein IV' group of carpets which replace the present stellar panels with octagons, but which otherwise have an identical arrangement. Three examples of this 'Holbein' group are located in Berlin (Spuhler, F., Oriental Carpets in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, London 1987, cat. nos. 4-6, pp. 30-31, illus. pp. 147-9) as well as others in the Textile Museum Washington and in the Türk ve Islam Museum, Istanbul. Carpets such as the first Berlin piece are often attributed to the Bergama region of Western Anatolia, although Spuhler (op.cit., p.31) prefers a broader 'Western Anatolian' attribution. A similar provenance seems certain for the present carpet. This is supported by the structural analysis published by Klose: op. cit., p. 2182.
The design arrangement both of this group and of the 'Holbein' IV group, derives from Mamluk carpets, produced in Egypt in the first half of the 15th century. The majority of these are characterised by the use of single central eight-pointed stars, often surrounded by smaller octagons, as in the Munich piece (for example Spuhler, F.: Islamic Carpets and Textiles in the Keir Collection, London 1978, p. 67, no. 32, plate p. 70; and Erdmann, K., Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, London 1970, p. 142, fig. 179). This design in turn can be traced back to the early Islamic Period, demonstrated by a few pile-woven and brocaded rugs (de Unger, E.: 'An Ancestor of the Mamluk Carpets', HALI, V, 1, 1982, pp. 45-46; also Christie's, Islamic Art and Indian Miniatures, 28 April, 1992, lot 322).
Carbon-dating undertaken in Z/uurich on a sample from our carpet suggests a late fifteenth or early sixteenth century dating. This is supported by the characteristics of the Munich fragment and the evidence given by the copy of Hans Holbein's fresco. The latter would imply an attribution to the early sixteenth century, although the slightly looser weave, the occasional inaccuracies of the interpretation of the design, and the darker colouring of the present carpet in comparison to the Munich piece could be taken to imply a later date. More external evidence for an early sixteenth century date is furthermore presented by the occurrence of carpets of the 'Holbein IV' type on European painting from the late fifteenth century onwards (Klose, C.: 'Einige Teppichdarstellungen in französischen Stundenbüchern des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts', HALI, II, 1, 1979, pp. 81-82).
It is likely that the conquest of Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517 brought a new wealth of carpet designs into the Anatolian repertoire. After the 16th century, carpets comprising large central star-designs remain very common in Anatolia, as can be shown from a large number of surviving examples, the design also being taken up, as with so many Anatolian designs, in later products from the Caucasus. The present carpet, and the group connected with it, provide a vital design link between early carpet design and the later better known groups.