.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Warp: silk, Z2S, ivory, natural
Weft: cotton, Z2S, tan, natural, 2 or mostly 3 shoots alternating
Pile: wool, Z2S, asymmetrical knot open left; gilt silver (mostly worn) over pale gold silk; silk, ivory, Z1, weft faced plain weave
The knot count is approximately 17-18H x 16V.
This fragment demonstrates the exquisite skill of the weavers in the royal workshops of Isfahan in the late 16th century. Woven very finely, on silk warps, with very soft lustrous wool for most of the rich colors and silk for the very white parts, the design uses considerable amounts of silver thread, particularly for the palmettes and cloud band motifs. The shimmering effect when it was first made must have dazzled the viewer at a time when Shah Abbas was rapidly enhancing and opening up his capital to visitors from foreign countries.
Its design must originally have been very similar to that of a carpet formerly in the Rothschild Collection, and most recently in the collection of Gordon P. Getty, sold Sotheby's New York, 1 February 2013, lot 22. That example is incredibly impressive, but the present one would have been even more so with its addition of metal-thread.
Weft: cotton, Z2S, tan, natural, 2 or mostly 3 shoots alternating
Pile: wool, Z2S, asymmetrical knot open left; gilt silver (mostly worn) over pale gold silk; silk, ivory, Z1, weft faced plain weave
The knot count is approximately 17-18H x 16V.
This fragment demonstrates the exquisite skill of the weavers in the royal workshops of Isfahan in the late 16th century. Woven very finely, on silk warps, with very soft lustrous wool for most of the rich colors and silk for the very white parts, the design uses considerable amounts of silver thread, particularly for the palmettes and cloud band motifs. The shimmering effect when it was first made must have dazzled the viewer at a time when Shah Abbas was rapidly enhancing and opening up his capital to visitors from foreign countries.
Its design must originally have been very similar to that of a carpet formerly in the Rothschild Collection, and most recently in the collection of Gordon P. Getty, sold Sotheby's New York, 1 February 2013, lot 22. That example is incredibly impressive, but the present one would have been even more so with its addition of metal-thread.