.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In the first half of the seventeenth century, during the reign of Shah Jahan, Mughal weaving - as well as architectural elements - were often decorated with closely-observed, large-scale floral elements. The evolution of that style at the Mughal court of Shah Jahan's heir, Aurangzeb, saw the continued fascination with flora but adapted to a miniaturised scale based on a multitude of small, colourful, rosettes, buds, leaves, petals and stems, or millefleurs, as in the present rug. Daniel Walker suggests that the millefleurs carpets developed from the European influence on Mughal floral patterns (D. Walker, Flowers Underfoot; Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era, New York, 1997, pp.119-129). In his article 'Ten Thousand At A Glance', (HALI 88, September 1996, pp.74-77), Steven Cohen suggests that the designs of Mughal Kashmir shawls may have also influenced the development of the designs of the millefleurs prayer rugs. The correlation between the composition of the millefleurs prayer rugs and the boteh design of mid 18th century Kashmir shawls is clear, (see Steven Cohen, ibid, September 1996, figs. 2 and 3, p.75).
Although much of the pile on the present rug has corroded or has worn, areas remain where the pile, particularly in the midnight-blue field, have a soft, silky quality suggesting that the pile was woven using the prized pashmina wool. This expensive and high-quality material was imported into India from Ladakh and Tibet, suggesting that this group originated from the weaving centers of Northern India, closer to the origin of this precious material. The structure of our rug, comprises three passes of Z2-3 blue cotton wefts. Blue wefts are found on a small number of related millefleur carpets possibly from the same workshop or area. The off white Z6S cotton warps are as one would expect to find on any North Indian cotton warped carpet of any period.
In terms of design, our rug is most closely related to one gifted by Joseph V. McMullan to the George Washington Textile Museum, Washington D.C. (acc.no.1969.52.1). Like that example, ours has an indigo field, densely filled with flowers enclosed by a lattice which divides the field at right angles into rectangular compartments, centered with a small medallion and spandrels, enclosed within a red border of linked angular stems with blue, white and yellow blossoms and pink carnations. The distinctive ivory guard stripes can be seen on nearly all examples within the group. A rug with the same design on an indigo field but with an ivory border, was purchased on the German market in 1988 (Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Orienteppiche X, Munich, 1988, no.4, p.14-15). Another from the same group, lacking a medallion but with a more pronounced diagonal lattice, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.67.267), while an example of a 'millefleurs' carpet with a medallion was sold in these Rooms, 20 October 1992, lot 352. A carpet of longer proportions and with a variant lattice punctuated with sweeping curvaceous leaves, formerly in the collection of Otto Bernheimer, sold in these Rooms, 14 February 1996, lot 181.
Although much of the pile on the present rug has corroded or has worn, areas remain where the pile, particularly in the midnight-blue field, have a soft, silky quality suggesting that the pile was woven using the prized pashmina wool. This expensive and high-quality material was imported into India from Ladakh and Tibet, suggesting that this group originated from the weaving centers of Northern India, closer to the origin of this precious material. The structure of our rug, comprises three passes of Z2-3 blue cotton wefts. Blue wefts are found on a small number of related millefleur carpets possibly from the same workshop or area. The off white Z6S cotton warps are as one would expect to find on any North Indian cotton warped carpet of any period.
In terms of design, our rug is most closely related to one gifted by Joseph V. McMullan to the George Washington Textile Museum, Washington D.C. (acc.no.1969.52.1). Like that example, ours has an indigo field, densely filled with flowers enclosed by a lattice which divides the field at right angles into rectangular compartments, centered with a small medallion and spandrels, enclosed within a red border of linked angular stems with blue, white and yellow blossoms and pink carnations. The distinctive ivory guard stripes can be seen on nearly all examples within the group. A rug with the same design on an indigo field but with an ivory border, was purchased on the German market in 1988 (Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Orienteppiche X, Munich, 1988, no.4, p.14-15). Another from the same group, lacking a medallion but with a more pronounced diagonal lattice, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.67.267), while an example of a 'millefleurs' carpet with a medallion was sold in these Rooms, 20 October 1992, lot 352. A carpet of longer proportions and with a variant lattice punctuated with sweeping curvaceous leaves, formerly in the collection of Otto Bernheimer, sold in these Rooms, 14 February 1996, lot 181.