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拍品專文
At the height of their production the designers of "vase" technique rugs in Persia were creating designs and colouring that is difficult to beat in any other period or from any other origin. While the vase design is the most frequently encountered, and the one that give the group its name, it is some of the other examples that are the most exciting. Two carpets in particular show an exuberance of design and spirit that is extraordinary, the Corcoran "Throne Rug" and the now fragmentary Jekyll carpet (May Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, London and Sheffield, 1976, no.15, p.50 and pl.6; Tapis, present de l'orient à l'occident, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1989, pp.148-9; for another fragment from the same carpet now in the Orient Stars Collection see Michael Franses, Il tappeto orientale dal XV al XVIII secolo, Eskenazi Milan, 1981, pl.16, pp.44-46). Both carpets have versions of the palmette and scrolling serrated leaf design that are as if they are drawn by a talented draughtsman. Close behind them in terms of draughtsmanship is the carpet with related design in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon (Le ciel dans un tapis, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2004, no.52, pp.188-9 among many other publications). More than the other two carpets the Gulbenkian example encloses various large palmettes within paired scrolling leaves, a feature that dominates the design.
It is in many ways surprising that this design was not more popular. A small number of carpets are known with related designs, but nothing like the number that have the classic vase interlaced lattice design. There is a large fragment in the Khalili collection (J.M.Rogers (ed.), The Arts of Islam, Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, no.400, p.336-7), two fragments in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Beattie, op.cit., no.19, pp.52-54), and an incomplete carpet in the Textile Museum, Washington (Beattie, op.cit, no.16, pp.50-51). Apart from the Corcoran and Gulbenkian carpets, the present carpet is the only one of the group that even gives the semblance of being complete, although it has in fact been very cleverly reduced in length. It does retain its border around the complete carpet.
This carpet is certainly later in date than the Corcoran and Gulbenkian carpets; its drawing is less exuberant. The colours are now considerably more muted than they were when it was made. This is because a number of them have been repiled, notably the red, which has subsequently faded (this is very apparent when one compares the current carpet to the colour image in Pope's Survey of 1938). Nevertheless this is an important classical Persian carpet of very rare design.
It is in many ways surprising that this design was not more popular. A small number of carpets are known with related designs, but nothing like the number that have the classic vase interlaced lattice design. There is a large fragment in the Khalili collection (J.M.Rogers (ed.), The Arts of Islam, Treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili Collection, no.400, p.336-7), two fragments in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Beattie, op.cit., no.19, pp.52-54), and an incomplete carpet in the Textile Museum, Washington (Beattie, op.cit, no.16, pp.50-51). Apart from the Corcoran and Gulbenkian carpets, the present carpet is the only one of the group that even gives the semblance of being complete, although it has in fact been very cleverly reduced in length. It does retain its border around the complete carpet.
This carpet is certainly later in date than the Corcoran and Gulbenkian carpets; its drawing is less exuberant. The colours are now considerably more muted than they were when it was made. This is because a number of them have been repiled, notably the red, which has subsequently faded (this is very apparent when one compares the current carpet to the colour image in Pope's Survey of 1938). Nevertheless this is an important classical Persian carpet of very rare design.