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Lot Essay
This is another and larger fragment from the same carpet as a fragment in the Textile Museum Washington, formerly in the Kelekian and McMullan Collections (McMullan, Joseph V.: Islamic Carpets, New York, 1965, no.23, pp.100-101). It is very possible that the two fragments were originally joined along the vertical mid-line of what was the original carpet.
In his discussion of "Portuguese" carpets Grant Ellis is puzzled by the McMullan fragment, pointing out that it does not really belong to the major group, but suggesting that "it must be from another centre, made as a contemporary close copy" (Ellis, Charles Grant: "The Portuguese Carpets of Gujarat", in Ettinghausen, R. (ed.): Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, 1972, p.277). Discussing it on the next page he suggests that on the basis of its structure it should be attributed to West Persia, "either Kurdish, or the area around Sultanabad". The present fragment gives considerably more information. It contains part of one of the four central medallions, and even more importantly it shows the original minor border design, which is again very close to that of the original examples.
In his discussion of "Portuguese" carpets Grant Ellis is puzzled by the McMullan fragment, pointing out that it does not really belong to the major group, but suggesting that "it must be from another centre, made as a contemporary close copy" (Ellis, Charles Grant: "The Portuguese Carpets of Gujarat", in Ettinghausen, R. (ed.): Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, 1972, p.277). Discussing it on the next page he suggests that on the basis of its structure it should be attributed to West Persia, "either Kurdish, or the area around Sultanabad". The present fragment gives considerably more information. It contains part of one of the four central medallions, and even more importantly it shows the original minor border design, which is again very close to that of the original examples.