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Lot Essay
By the beginning of the 19th century much of the Indian carpet industry had become almost obsolete but the inclusion of several Indian pile carpets in London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 sparked its revival. Private workshops sprung up across the country and by 1862 the British Imperial government had set up a number of jail workshops in the Punjab. There is a clear and continuous progression evident in the design and construction of the 19th century Indian carpets; an early example that anticipates the later ‘jail’ production sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1996, lot 401.
What unites this group is their predilection for the 16th and 17th century cloudband and palmette designs of the Safavid and Mughal traditions. The renaissance in Indian production was buoyed by the weaver’s exposure to these designs through the carpets of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the collection in Bijapur, and later, the publication of lavish carpet reference books with hand-coloured plates (Ian Bennet, Jail Birds, London, 1987, no.5). The present lot is grouped within the first half of the 19th century Agra production, distinguished by their bold scale of drawing in both the field and border, their fine weave and, in particular, the shimmering hues and variety of colour that become harder and less varied in later production. The azure-blue of the field on the present carpet is most unusual and is enhanced further by the lustrous quality of the wool. While no comparable blue ground carpet can be found, a carpet of slightly larger proportions, with the same border pattern but woven on a red ground is displayed in the Tehran Carpet Museum, Iran, inv. no. 430. exhibited as Herat, 17th century.
A common feature that all of the carpets in this group share is their mirrored design which creates an attractive balance, but also allowed the weavers to scale their designs to almost any size. A significantly larger example from the same group with a linked arabesque border, formerly in the Toms Collection, was offered the these Rooms, 24 October, 2019, lot 266, and another that sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2002, lot 100. Two slightly smaller examples that have manipulated this field design to produce a square format sold in these Rooms, 13 October 2005, lot 65 and 7 October 2014, lot 47.
What unites this group is their predilection for the 16th and 17th century cloudband and palmette designs of the Safavid and Mughal traditions. The renaissance in Indian production was buoyed by the weaver’s exposure to these designs through the carpets of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the collection in Bijapur, and later, the publication of lavish carpet reference books with hand-coloured plates (Ian Bennet, Jail Birds, London, 1987, no.5). The present lot is grouped within the first half of the 19th century Agra production, distinguished by their bold scale of drawing in both the field and border, their fine weave and, in particular, the shimmering hues and variety of colour that become harder and less varied in later production. The azure-blue of the field on the present carpet is most unusual and is enhanced further by the lustrous quality of the wool. While no comparable blue ground carpet can be found, a carpet of slightly larger proportions, with the same border pattern but woven on a red ground is displayed in the Tehran Carpet Museum, Iran, inv. no. 430. exhibited as Herat, 17th century.
A common feature that all of the carpets in this group share is their mirrored design which creates an attractive balance, but also allowed the weavers to scale their designs to almost any size. A significantly larger example from the same group with a linked arabesque border, formerly in the Toms Collection, was offered the these Rooms, 24 October, 2019, lot 266, and another that sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2002, lot 100. Two slightly smaller examples that have manipulated this field design to produce a square format sold in these Rooms, 13 October 2005, lot 65 and 7 October 2014, lot 47.