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Lot Essay
The Kokusai Senshoku Museum, which first opened its doors in 1986, was purpose-built to house the impressive collection of over 2000 Japanese and international textiles and weavings that had been fastidiously collected by Dr. Uemura Rokuro (1894-1991) a pre-eminent Japanese researcher of dyeing and weaving culture. According to the exhibition catalogue, plans for the museum building centered around a high wall in the foyer of the building, upon which this impressive carpet was to be hung, with the intention that it was one of the first exhibits visitors would see upon entering the museum.
Rokuro's lifetime research focused on the ancient techniques of weaving and dyeing during which time he was commissioned, by the Imperial Household Agency, to investigate the Shosoin textiles. He served as the president of the Japan Dyeing and Weaving Culture Association and his collected works are published in six volumes. Rokuro's diverse collection contained traditional Japanese kimono, Indian palampores, Peruvian weavings and Flemish tapestries as well as the present Persian Isfahan carpet. For someone so fascinated in the source of natural dyes and their apparent effects on various fibers, it is not hard to understand Rokuro's attraction to the present carpet with its kaleidoscope of brilliant natural dye colours.
The presence of red ground carpets of 'in and out palmette' design in European inventories and paintings serves as an aide to understanding the chronology and dissemination of the group in the West where they appear by the late 16th century but were not widely disseminated until the following century. Jessica Hallet's article sets out the development of Isfahan carpet design over the 17th century and she bases her conclusions principally on Portuguese inventory records, which are supported by paintings. She suggests that the inclusion of large scrolling saz leaves within the palmette vine design, which notably this carpet does not feature, is generally considered to be a later feature introduced post 1650, supporting the suggestion that the present carpet was woven earlier in the century (J. Hallett, 'From the Looms of Yazd and Isfahan', in Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian World, 1400-1700, Oxford and Genoa, 2010, pp.90-123).
While the journey of such carpets to the West is relatively well documented, their arrival in the East is less clear. Japan’s isolationist foreign policy, Sakoku, “locked country”, was supported by the powerful Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period (1603-1868). Japan’s doors were closed to the West and relations and trade routes between Japan and other countries were severely limited. While the Japanese were forbidden to leave the country, the only Europeans to be granted permission to continue trading were the Dutch due to their loyal attitude towards the Japanese central government and their flexibility in religious matters. The highly successful Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), more commonly known as the Dutch East India company, had been trading since 1602.
Despite these trading limitations, a variety of textiles, rugs and carpets found their way to Japan from the mid 16th century as gifts to the Shogun and high officials. Their popularity grew particularly amongst the military commanders, an example of which can be seen in the battle surcoat (jin-baori) of the great Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) that is made-up from a rare 16th century Safavid kilim. The jin-baori, was displayed in an exhibition held in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka in 1994, (8 September - 29 November) which showcased a surprising number of Persian and Indian carpets, including two ‘Polonaise’ and red-ground wool Isfahan carpets. (‘Woven Flowers of the Silk Road’, by Toh Sugimura, HALI, 76, 1994, p.108).
The number of rare and historically important carpets from Japanese institutional holdings in that exhibition shows a tradition of carpet appreciation. Another notable example of Japan’s appreciation of exotic textiles can be seen in the annual Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, which first began parading the neighbourhood floats in the Muromachi period (1333-1573). It became an opportunity for the bourgeoisie of Kyoto to decorate their floats with increasingly costly textile decoration that included exotic rugs and carpets from India, Persia and central Asia. According to Sugimura, the Gion section of the Osaka exhibition included two 17th century Persian ‘Polonaise’ carpets which he suggests could have been gifted to the Daimyo (feudal lords) by Western or Japanese traders.
This imposing and archetypal Safavid Isfahan carpet with its intricate floral design covers a substantial area, creating a dramatic visual effect of a seemingly endless meadow of flowers and decoration. The wide array of colours within the palette, amounting to twelve in total, with additional varying tones in each, retain their original depth and richness and are used in numerous combinations. The execution of drawing is also of particular note, as the weavers have maintained a balanced and harmonious design throughout, highlighting particular flowers and cloud bands with precise outline and form. While a dark brown was used to outline some of the decoration, it was also used to fill petals and leaves within various flowers and palmettes however, with time, it has corroded so dramatically that these specific areas are left devoid of wool, and colour, revealing the cotton warp and weft beneath which in turn throws the surrounding elements into greater relief. Two period carpets of similar scale, drawing and colouring, were formerly owned by Senator William A. Clark before he gifted them to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington in 1925; they were later sold at Sotheby's, New York, 5 June 2013, lots 4 and 5, along with the rest of his collection.
While we are short on conclusive proof, the appearance of such a carpet, seemingly unpublished in the West, surviving in this condition, together with the few facts that are certain about its provenance, may suggest that its export to Japan had taken place when interest in exotic carpets was at its greatest, in other words, possibly at a time when the carpets themselves were being made in the 17th century.
Rokuro's lifetime research focused on the ancient techniques of weaving and dyeing during which time he was commissioned, by the Imperial Household Agency, to investigate the Shosoin textiles. He served as the president of the Japan Dyeing and Weaving Culture Association and his collected works are published in six volumes. Rokuro's diverse collection contained traditional Japanese kimono, Indian palampores, Peruvian weavings and Flemish tapestries as well as the present Persian Isfahan carpet. For someone so fascinated in the source of natural dyes and their apparent effects on various fibers, it is not hard to understand Rokuro's attraction to the present carpet with its kaleidoscope of brilliant natural dye colours.
The presence of red ground carpets of 'in and out palmette' design in European inventories and paintings serves as an aide to understanding the chronology and dissemination of the group in the West where they appear by the late 16th century but were not widely disseminated until the following century. Jessica Hallet's article sets out the development of Isfahan carpet design over the 17th century and she bases her conclusions principally on Portuguese inventory records, which are supported by paintings. She suggests that the inclusion of large scrolling saz leaves within the palmette vine design, which notably this carpet does not feature, is generally considered to be a later feature introduced post 1650, supporting the suggestion that the present carpet was woven earlier in the century (J. Hallett, 'From the Looms of Yazd and Isfahan', in Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian World, 1400-1700, Oxford and Genoa, 2010, pp.90-123).
While the journey of such carpets to the West is relatively well documented, their arrival in the East is less clear. Japan’s isolationist foreign policy, Sakoku, “locked country”, was supported by the powerful Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period (1603-1868). Japan’s doors were closed to the West and relations and trade routes between Japan and other countries were severely limited. While the Japanese were forbidden to leave the country, the only Europeans to be granted permission to continue trading were the Dutch due to their loyal attitude towards the Japanese central government and their flexibility in religious matters. The highly successful Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), more commonly known as the Dutch East India company, had been trading since 1602.
Despite these trading limitations, a variety of textiles, rugs and carpets found their way to Japan from the mid 16th century as gifts to the Shogun and high officials. Their popularity grew particularly amongst the military commanders, an example of which can be seen in the battle surcoat (jin-baori) of the great Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) that is made-up from a rare 16th century Safavid kilim. The jin-baori, was displayed in an exhibition held in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka in 1994, (8 September - 29 November) which showcased a surprising number of Persian and Indian carpets, including two ‘Polonaise’ and red-ground wool Isfahan carpets. (‘Woven Flowers of the Silk Road’, by Toh Sugimura, HALI, 76, 1994, p.108).
The number of rare and historically important carpets from Japanese institutional holdings in that exhibition shows a tradition of carpet appreciation. Another notable example of Japan’s appreciation of exotic textiles can be seen in the annual Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, which first began parading the neighbourhood floats in the Muromachi period (1333-1573). It became an opportunity for the bourgeoisie of Kyoto to decorate their floats with increasingly costly textile decoration that included exotic rugs and carpets from India, Persia and central Asia. According to Sugimura, the Gion section of the Osaka exhibition included two 17th century Persian ‘Polonaise’ carpets which he suggests could have been gifted to the Daimyo (feudal lords) by Western or Japanese traders.
This imposing and archetypal Safavid Isfahan carpet with its intricate floral design covers a substantial area, creating a dramatic visual effect of a seemingly endless meadow of flowers and decoration. The wide array of colours within the palette, amounting to twelve in total, with additional varying tones in each, retain their original depth and richness and are used in numerous combinations. The execution of drawing is also of particular note, as the weavers have maintained a balanced and harmonious design throughout, highlighting particular flowers and cloud bands with precise outline and form. While a dark brown was used to outline some of the decoration, it was also used to fill petals and leaves within various flowers and palmettes however, with time, it has corroded so dramatically that these specific areas are left devoid of wool, and colour, revealing the cotton warp and weft beneath which in turn throws the surrounding elements into greater relief. Two period carpets of similar scale, drawing and colouring, were formerly owned by Senator William A. Clark before he gifted them to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington in 1925; they were later sold at Sotheby's, New York, 5 June 2013, lots 4 and 5, along with the rest of his collection.
While we are short on conclusive proof, the appearance of such a carpet, seemingly unpublished in the West, surviving in this condition, together with the few facts that are certain about its provenance, may suggest that its export to Japan had taken place when interest in exotic carpets was at its greatest, in other words, possibly at a time when the carpets themselves were being made in the 17th century.