Lot Essay
The relationship between the large carpets with grounds formed of cartouches to illustrations of Timurid miniatures has often been commented on. The designs in most Timurid miniatures formalise the design so that it closer resembles contemporary book illumination but the layout is nevertheless clearly recognisable. An example is clearly visible in a miniature in the Keir Collection, attributed to Behzad, and dateable to 1497 AD (Robinson, B.W. et.al.: Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book, London, 1976, no.III.200, pl.18, dust jacket illustration, and pp.170-171).
To date two carpets with this overall field design and without medallion have been published, from the Musée des Tissues in Lyon (HALI 34, pp.42-3), and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Dimand, M.S. and Mailey, Jean: Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, 1973, pp.41-2, 98, and fig.67, pp. 134-5). Both these, which are generally considered to be a pair, are woven with silk warps and wefts. This feature, coupled with the superb quality of the drawing, has led to them generally being considered the earliest of the group.
A second group with wool warp and weft, overlays the field design with a central medallion. The best known of these are the indigo ground pair formerly in the Beghian Collection, London, one of which is now in the Museum Fr Angewandte Kunst, Vienna (Pope, A.U.: A Survey of Persian Art, London, 1938, pl. 1125); the other was recently published on the German art market (Herrmann, E.: Asiatische Teppich- und Textilkunst, Vol 4, 1992, no.3, pp.14-17). In addition to these are published examples in Dsseldorf (an orange-brown ground fragment in the Kunstmuseum, Meister, P.W. and Azadi, S.: Persische Teppiche, exhibition catalogue, Museum fr Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 1971, no.5), in Istanbul (with yellow ground, HALI 64, pp.96-97), and one with an orange-red field formerly in the E. Simon Collection, sold by Paul Cassirer, Berlin (Auktionskatalog, 1929, lot 242, detail illustrated, sold to Goldschmidt). Two other unpublished examples are known, one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the other in the Wher Collection, both of which are reported to have fields of varying shades of orange.
All the published examples of the medallion and cartouche group share not only the field design but they also have identical borders. The present example is the smallest of the group. The cartoon for the design of the field has been kept on the same scale as for the larger carpets, giving a stronger counterpoint element to what is normally found as a symmetrical design. The medallion is not placed on the central axis of the field cartouches, and by the same token is also drawn large, pressing heavily on the borders at each side.
The recent publication of the second Beghian example, mentioned above, suggested that the entire group were woven as a specific commission for the Blue Mosque in Tabriz, built in 1465. An original layout of the eight carpets was proposed, based on certain examples being made as pairs for others, with this being the 'pair' to that in Istanbul, although of a different size. This would argue for a date considerably earlier than those generally accepted and also earlier than most of the miniatures depicting carpets of this design, particularly associated with Behzad. One minor point is that previous publications have cited the field colour of the present carpet to be yellow. After cleaning it clearly shows as white, making it the only example of the second group of cartouche carpets (those with medallions) to share the field colouring of the finer New York and Lyons examples.
To date two carpets with this overall field design and without medallion have been published, from the Musée des Tissues in Lyon (HALI 34, pp.42-3), and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Dimand, M.S. and Mailey, Jean: Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, 1973, pp.41-2, 98, and fig.67, pp. 134-5). Both these, which are generally considered to be a pair, are woven with silk warps and wefts. This feature, coupled with the superb quality of the drawing, has led to them generally being considered the earliest of the group.
A second group with wool warp and weft, overlays the field design with a central medallion. The best known of these are the indigo ground pair formerly in the Beghian Collection, London, one of which is now in the Museum Fr Angewandte Kunst, Vienna (Pope, A.U.: A Survey of Persian Art, London, 1938, pl. 1125); the other was recently published on the German art market (Herrmann, E.: Asiatische Teppich- und Textilkunst, Vol 4, 1992, no.3, pp.14-17). In addition to these are published examples in Dsseldorf (an orange-brown ground fragment in the Kunstmuseum, Meister, P.W. and Azadi, S.: Persische Teppiche, exhibition catalogue, Museum fr Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 1971, no.5), in Istanbul (with yellow ground, HALI 64, pp.96-97), and one with an orange-red field formerly in the E. Simon Collection, sold by Paul Cassirer, Berlin (Auktionskatalog, 1929, lot 242, detail illustrated, sold to Goldschmidt). Two other unpublished examples are known, one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the other in the Wher Collection, both of which are reported to have fields of varying shades of orange.
All the published examples of the medallion and cartouche group share not only the field design but they also have identical borders. The present example is the smallest of the group. The cartoon for the design of the field has been kept on the same scale as for the larger carpets, giving a stronger counterpoint element to what is normally found as a symmetrical design. The medallion is not placed on the central axis of the field cartouches, and by the same token is also drawn large, pressing heavily on the borders at each side.
The recent publication of the second Beghian example, mentioned above, suggested that the entire group were woven as a specific commission for the Blue Mosque in Tabriz, built in 1465. An original layout of the eight carpets was proposed, based on certain examples being made as pairs for others, with this being the 'pair' to that in Istanbul, although of a different size. This would argue for a date considerably earlier than those generally accepted and also earlier than most of the miniatures depicting carpets of this design, particularly associated with Behzad. One minor point is that previous publications have cited the field colour of the present carpet to be yellow. After cleaning it clearly shows as white, making it the only example of the second group of cartouche carpets (those with medallions) to share the field colouring of the finer New York and Lyons examples.