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Lot Essay
This fascinating and beautiful rug links two visually and structurally different design types that were woven in Isfahan in the early seventeenth century. Whilst the colouring and the palmette and spiral vine field of the present rug appear typical of early seventeenth century wool Isfahan carpets, in a number of ways our rug is more closely related to the silk and metal-thread Persian carpets confusingly coined as ‘Polonaise’ rugs, but which were woven contemporaneously in Isfahan.
The present lot, with its burgundy-red field and rich sea-green border is similar in size to one in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection but which also has the same small central eight lobed flower-head. That rug has only a suggestion of the same quatre-foil radiating medallion, hinted at through the careful arrangement of scrolling vine with split-palmette terminals. It is also made less obvious in the way it is filled with the same ground colour as the rest of the field unlike our medallion which would originally have had a greater proportion of metal-thread but which has since worn away or corroded, (Friedrich Spuhler, Carpets and Textiles, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, London, 1998, No.21, pp.104-5). Another rug centred with an eight-lobed rosette within a bold quatre-foil metal-thread medallion, previously unpublished, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 11 October 2004, lot 68. Typical of most Safavid examples, the spiral-vine design of the field in both this and that rug is symmetric al across both vertical and horizontal axes. Whilst only traces of original metal-thread remain on our rug, the Sotheby’s rug has been re-brocaded at a later date which although already tarnished, gives a clearer impression of what it must have been like when originally woven. Another small rug, catalogued at the time as Herat, was sold in these Rooms, 14 April 1988, lot 82. In that rug however the field design differs in that the small circular roundel enclosed within a cruciform medallion is encircled within a larger lobed roundel. All of these examples share the same characteristic field and border colour.
The bold central medallion of the present rug is enclosed within radiating saz leaves forming strapwork cornered by similar spandrels. This design is more closely associated with the silk and metal-thread 'Polonaise' rugs which in turn drew their inspiration from the rare group of earlier sixteenth century small silk medallion rugs from Kashan, (M.S.Dimand and Jean Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, fig.8, p.57). The ‘Polonaise’ rugs were often woven in pairs. One pair in particular bearing the same quatre-foil medallion enclosed within an arabesque strapwork as ours, one of which was formerly owned by Prince Johann of Liechtenstein and later the Keir Collection, (Friedrich Spuhler, Islamic carpets and Textiles in the Keir Collection, London, 1978, pl.55, pp109-10), the other is now in the Berlin Museum, (Kurt Erdmann, Islamic Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv.no.1). Another example centred with the same medallion formed of split-palmettes and enclosed within a large lozenge formed of curved stems is in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch, (Inv. No.9; May Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, World of Islam Festival Publishing Co. Ltd., 1976, fig. 5a, pp.40-41). Whilst the Buccleuch rug has a different border design to ours, it shares the same floral guard stripes.
Along with the design, the present rug is also structurally closer to the ‘Polonaise’ group of rugs in that it is woven on natural ivory cotton warps, with three weft shoots, two cotton and one silk. The two cotton wefts are beige in colour with a third cream silk weft running between the two. At times there are bands, more visible on the reverse, where the third silk weft changes colour from cream to a wine-red. This change in weft colour is a characteristic that one finds consistently in the ‘Polonaise’ group. Although used on a much more limited scale than the ‘Polonaise’ rugs the present example retains elements of the original silver and gold metal-thread that would have been wrapped around the silk core weft and inserted independently. Along-side the traditional method of metal-thread brocading, the present lot, employs an unusual additional technique used within the four larger scrolling lanceolate leaves that overlay the cusped strap-work. Each appears to have widely spaced thin lines of gold metal-thread running diagonally across the surface of the leaves which is reflective of the confident and masterful weaver.
It is now generally accepted that the muted colours of the silk ‘Polonaise’ rugs that we see today have heavily faded in colour as the dyes were not fast. The change in weft colour on this rug as well as Polonaises is indicative of this; the cream or tan wefts are almost certainly a red colour that has faded. The present rug shares the same jewel-like colours of the best preserved Polonaises. Employing over nine different colours, the weaver has used these playfully throughout, perhaps most clearly in some of the smaller flower heads with one bearing five different coloured petals with further contrasting coloured centres. Interestingly our rug has additional highlights of white cotton which are used effectively to accentuate floral details within the design. In addition, whilst normally considered an Indian characteristic, the present rug shows an unusual use of ton-sur-ton colouring within the spiralling vine both in the field and border. The balanced and harmonious design, the dexterous use of colour and the original use of the golden metal-thread all point to the fact that this rug was likely to have been woven by a master weaver.
The present lot, with its burgundy-red field and rich sea-green border is similar in size to one in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection but which also has the same small central eight lobed flower-head. That rug has only a suggestion of the same quatre-foil radiating medallion, hinted at through the careful arrangement of scrolling vine with split-palmette terminals. It is also made less obvious in the way it is filled with the same ground colour as the rest of the field unlike our medallion which would originally have had a greater proportion of metal-thread but which has since worn away or corroded, (Friedrich Spuhler, Carpets and Textiles, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, London, 1998, No.21, pp.104-5). Another rug centred with an eight-lobed rosette within a bold quatre-foil metal-thread medallion, previously unpublished, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 11 October 2004, lot 68. Typical of most Safavid examples, the spiral-vine design of the field in both this and that rug is symmetric al across both vertical and horizontal axes. Whilst only traces of original metal-thread remain on our rug, the Sotheby’s rug has been re-brocaded at a later date which although already tarnished, gives a clearer impression of what it must have been like when originally woven. Another small rug, catalogued at the time as Herat, was sold in these Rooms, 14 April 1988, lot 82. In that rug however the field design differs in that the small circular roundel enclosed within a cruciform medallion is encircled within a larger lobed roundel. All of these examples share the same characteristic field and border colour.
The bold central medallion of the present rug is enclosed within radiating saz leaves forming strapwork cornered by similar spandrels. This design is more closely associated with the silk and metal-thread 'Polonaise' rugs which in turn drew their inspiration from the rare group of earlier sixteenth century small silk medallion rugs from Kashan, (M.S.Dimand and Jean Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, fig.8, p.57). The ‘Polonaise’ rugs were often woven in pairs. One pair in particular bearing the same quatre-foil medallion enclosed within an arabesque strapwork as ours, one of which was formerly owned by Prince Johann of Liechtenstein and later the Keir Collection, (Friedrich Spuhler, Islamic carpets and Textiles in the Keir Collection, London, 1978, pl.55, pp109-10), the other is now in the Berlin Museum, (Kurt Erdmann, Islamic Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv.no.1). Another example centred with the same medallion formed of split-palmettes and enclosed within a large lozenge formed of curved stems is in the collection of the Dukes of Buccleuch, (Inv. No.9; May Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, World of Islam Festival Publishing Co. Ltd., 1976, fig. 5a, pp.40-41). Whilst the Buccleuch rug has a different border design to ours, it shares the same floral guard stripes.
Along with the design, the present rug is also structurally closer to the ‘Polonaise’ group of rugs in that it is woven on natural ivory cotton warps, with three weft shoots, two cotton and one silk. The two cotton wefts are beige in colour with a third cream silk weft running between the two. At times there are bands, more visible on the reverse, where the third silk weft changes colour from cream to a wine-red. This change in weft colour is a characteristic that one finds consistently in the ‘Polonaise’ group. Although used on a much more limited scale than the ‘Polonaise’ rugs the present example retains elements of the original silver and gold metal-thread that would have been wrapped around the silk core weft and inserted independently. Along-side the traditional method of metal-thread brocading, the present lot, employs an unusual additional technique used within the four larger scrolling lanceolate leaves that overlay the cusped strap-work. Each appears to have widely spaced thin lines of gold metal-thread running diagonally across the surface of the leaves which is reflective of the confident and masterful weaver.
It is now generally accepted that the muted colours of the silk ‘Polonaise’ rugs that we see today have heavily faded in colour as the dyes were not fast. The change in weft colour on this rug as well as Polonaises is indicative of this; the cream or tan wefts are almost certainly a red colour that has faded. The present rug shares the same jewel-like colours of the best preserved Polonaises. Employing over nine different colours, the weaver has used these playfully throughout, perhaps most clearly in some of the smaller flower heads with one bearing five different coloured petals with further contrasting coloured centres. Interestingly our rug has additional highlights of white cotton which are used effectively to accentuate floral details within the design. In addition, whilst normally considered an Indian characteristic, the present rug shows an unusual use of ton-sur-ton colouring within the spiralling vine both in the field and border. The balanced and harmonious design, the dexterous use of colour and the original use of the golden metal-thread all point to the fact that this rug was likely to have been woven by a master weaver.