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Lot Essay
There has been considerable debate as to the attribution of this group and this is no more clearly illustrated than in the present carpet. It first appeared in the Marquand sale catalogue in 1903 as an Isfahan carpet which was amended five years later in 1908 by Arthur Pope to the East Persian city of Herat in his, Survey of Persian Art. It wasn't until 1986 that Hali referred to it as a "so-called 'Indo-Isfahan' carpet", a term that serves as a compromise between those who maintain they were made in Isfahan and those who support an Indian origin.
Despite the various claims of other centres it is now acknowledged that these carpets were woven in Shah 'Abbas's new capital Isfahan. The city had became the established epicentre for all the arts at the end of the 16th century, including carpet manufacture. The evident visual similarity between these carpets and the established manufacture of the 'Polonaise' carpets of Isfahan also serves as a strong argument.
For further accounts of these carpets covering the arguments as to their origins please see the foreword to the Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, sold in these Rooms, 14th February 1996, pp.15-16, Sotheby's New York, 8 December, 1990, Carpets from the J.Paul Getty Museum, lot 4, and Sotheby's London 7 June, 1995, The Toms Collection, lot 95.
Technical Analysis:
Warp: Cotton, natural, Z3S, depressed
Weft: Cotton, natural, Z2Sw, 3 shoots
Knotting: Wool, Z2Sw, asymmetrical open to the left
V/Hem: 5/5
Selvages: 2 groups of 4 warps each, wrapped crimson wool
Ends: Upper end: approx. 5-7mm. ivory plain weave (some slight lossses and nicks); Lower end: 1cm ivory plain weave striped in golden yellow and walnut, 4-5cm. fringe composed of 4 warps, Z plied (some losses)
Colours: Ivory, pale golden yellow, dark golden uellow, aquamarine, turquoise, sky-blue, dark blue, dark blue-green, rose crimson, crimson, walnut (corroded) (11)
Despite the various claims of other centres it is now acknowledged that these carpets were woven in Shah 'Abbas's new capital Isfahan. The city had became the established epicentre for all the arts at the end of the 16th century, including carpet manufacture. The evident visual similarity between these carpets and the established manufacture of the 'Polonaise' carpets of Isfahan also serves as a strong argument.
For further accounts of these carpets covering the arguments as to their origins please see the foreword to the Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, sold in these Rooms, 14th February 1996, pp.15-16, Sotheby's New York, 8 December, 1990, Carpets from the J.Paul Getty Museum, lot 4, and Sotheby's London 7 June, 1995, The Toms Collection, lot 95.
Technical Analysis:
Warp: Cotton, natural, Z3S, depressed
Weft: Cotton, natural, Z2Sw, 3 shoots
Knotting: Wool, Z2Sw, asymmetrical open to the left
V/Hem: 5/5
Selvages: 2 groups of 4 warps each, wrapped crimson wool
Ends: Upper end: approx. 5-7mm. ivory plain weave (some slight lossses and nicks); Lower end: 1cm ivory plain weave striped in golden yellow and walnut, 4-5cm. fringe composed of 4 warps, Z plied (some losses)
Colours: Ivory, pale golden yellow, dark golden uellow, aquamarine, turquoise, sky-blue, dark blue, dark blue-green, rose crimson, crimson, walnut (corroded) (11)