.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
At the 1999 International Conference on Oriental Carpets Christine Klose presented an analysis of various vase carpet fragments with the same design as of the present lot and proposed that they are in fact fragments from one pair of large carpets.
She suggested that the fragments of the first carpet were: the fragment in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, inv.no.10556 (L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.632, p.263); one in the Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg (Vladimir Loukonine and Anatol Ivanov, L'Art Persan, Bournemouth, 1995, no.204, pp.198-199); a third belongs to the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, and comprises three small fragments from the border including the lower left hand corner (May H. Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, exhibition catalogue, Sheffield and Birmingham, 1976, no.39, pp.67-68). Our lot adjoins the fragment in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, inv.no.10556), so Klose would have included it in the first group.
Fragments attributed to the virtually identical pair above are known in six institutions: the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Musée Historique des Tissues, Lyon, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, the Kunstindutriemuseet, Copenhagen, and the Louvre, Paris.
Our fragment is the most important piece that has survived as it gives the resolution in the centre of the carpet. This is demonstrated by the main border design on the left of the fragment which shows the carpet to have had a specific design in the centre similar to the corner resolution. This feature of a specific break in the centre of the otherwise flowing border design is extremely unusual if not unique in Safavid carpet design. It is underlined by the fact that there is half of a vase visible in the field above - again indicating the interruption in the design in order to emphasize the axis of the carpet. This also clearly demonstrates its original width of almost exactly six metres (the present fragment has probably lost about 4cm. where it has been cut and re-joined). This adds weight to the theory that all the fragments come from one carpet rather than two: sixteen metres long would give the normal Safavid carpet proportions if the width was 6m. Bearing that in mind, it is interesting to note also that the massive Kevorkian "durbar" carpet woven in India (Daniel Walker, Flowers Underfoot. Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era, exhibition catalogue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997/1998, no.33, figs.119 and 120) which measures 16 x 3.25m takes as its design the Kirman vase motif. Maybe there was a Kirman original from which the idea was taken!
Whether from one or two carpets, what is certain is that this is one of the most impressive of all carpets to have survived from Safavid Kirman. The scale of the flowers is massive, the drawing shows great variety and liveliness within the fixed confines of the design, and the colours are vibrant and hugely varied. It is a great testament to the magnificence of Safavid weaving.
She suggested that the fragments of the first carpet were: the fragment in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, inv.no.10556 (L'Islam dans les collections nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.632, p.263); one in the Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg (Vladimir Loukonine and Anatol Ivanov, L'Art Persan, Bournemouth, 1995, no.204, pp.198-199); a third belongs to the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, and comprises three small fragments from the border including the lower left hand corner (May H. Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, exhibition catalogue, Sheffield and Birmingham, 1976, no.39, pp.67-68). Our lot adjoins the fragment in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, inv.no.10556), so Klose would have included it in the first group.
Fragments attributed to the virtually identical pair above are known in six institutions: the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Musée Historique des Tissues, Lyon, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, the Kunstindutriemuseet, Copenhagen, and the Louvre, Paris.
Our fragment is the most important piece that has survived as it gives the resolution in the centre of the carpet. This is demonstrated by the main border design on the left of the fragment which shows the carpet to have had a specific design in the centre similar to the corner resolution. This feature of a specific break in the centre of the otherwise flowing border design is extremely unusual if not unique in Safavid carpet design. It is underlined by the fact that there is half of a vase visible in the field above - again indicating the interruption in the design in order to emphasize the axis of the carpet. This also clearly demonstrates its original width of almost exactly six metres (the present fragment has probably lost about 4cm. where it has been cut and re-joined). This adds weight to the theory that all the fragments come from one carpet rather than two: sixteen metres long would give the normal Safavid carpet proportions if the width was 6m. Bearing that in mind, it is interesting to note also that the massive Kevorkian "durbar" carpet woven in India (Daniel Walker, Flowers Underfoot. Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era, exhibition catalogue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997/1998, no.33, figs.119 and 120) which measures 16 x 3.25m takes as its design the Kirman vase motif. Maybe there was a Kirman original from which the idea was taken!
Whether from one or two carpets, what is certain is that this is one of the most impressive of all carpets to have survived from Safavid Kirman. The scale of the flowers is massive, the drawing shows great variety and liveliness within the fixed confines of the design, and the colours are vibrant and hugely varied. It is a great testament to the magnificence of Safavid weaving.