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Lot Essay
By the beginning of the 19th century much of the Indian carpet industry had become almost obsolete but the inclusion of several Indian pile carpets in London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 sparked its revival. Private workshops sprung up across the country and by 1862 the British Imperial government had set up a number of jail workshops in the Punjab. There is a clear and continuous progression evident in the design and construction of the 19th century Indian carpets; an early example that anticipates the later ‘jail’ production sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1996, lot 401.
What unites this group is their predilection for the 16th and 17th century saz leaf and palmette designs of the Safavid and Mughal traditions. The renaissance in Indian production was buoyed by the weaver’s exposure to these designs through the carpets of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the collection in Bijapur, and later, the publication of lavish carpet reference books with hand-coloured plates (Ian Bennet, Jail Birds, London, 1987, no.5). The present lot is grouped within the first half of the 19th century Agra production, distinguished by their bold scale of drawing in both the field and border, their fine weave, achieved through the use of silk wefting and, in particular, the shimmering hues and variety of colour that become harder and less varied in later production. While somewhat faded on the face the palette of the present carpet, when viewed from the reverse, reveals a delicate array of colours including, rose-pink, plum-red and lilac, set upon a delicately abrashed silver-grey and ice-blue ground set within a delicate pale yellow border. A carpet of comparable size and field design but with a different border pattern sold in these Rooms, 2 April 2020, lot 185. That example retained a stronger azure-blue in the field which was enhanced further by the lustrous quality of the wool. A third example with the same field and border as that example, but woven on a red ground, is displayed in the Tehran Carpet Museum, Iran, inv. no.430. exhibited as Herat, 17th century.
A common feature that all of the carpets in this group share is their mirrored design which creates an attractive balance, but also allowed the weavers to scale their designs to almost any size. A significantly larger example from the same group with a linked arabesque border, formerly in the Toms Collection, was offered the these Rooms, 24 October, 2019, lot 266, and another sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2002, lot 100. Two slightly smaller examples that have manipulated this field design to produce a square format sold in these Rooms, 13 October 2005, lot 65 and 7 October 2014, lot 47.
Unlike the afore-mentioned examples, the design of the present carpet incorporates a small inscription. The inscription consists of four pairs of Devanagari letters, which may correspond with the initials of weavers or the initial letters of words from a mantra
What unites this group is their predilection for the 16th and 17th century saz leaf and palmette designs of the Safavid and Mughal traditions. The renaissance in Indian production was buoyed by the weaver’s exposure to these designs through the carpets of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the collection in Bijapur, and later, the publication of lavish carpet reference books with hand-coloured plates (Ian Bennet, Jail Birds, London, 1987, no.5). The present lot is grouped within the first half of the 19th century Agra production, distinguished by their bold scale of drawing in both the field and border, their fine weave, achieved through the use of silk wefting and, in particular, the shimmering hues and variety of colour that become harder and less varied in later production. While somewhat faded on the face the palette of the present carpet, when viewed from the reverse, reveals a delicate array of colours including, rose-pink, plum-red and lilac, set upon a delicately abrashed silver-grey and ice-blue ground set within a delicate pale yellow border. A carpet of comparable size and field design but with a different border pattern sold in these Rooms, 2 April 2020, lot 185. That example retained a stronger azure-blue in the field which was enhanced further by the lustrous quality of the wool. A third example with the same field and border as that example, but woven on a red ground, is displayed in the Tehran Carpet Museum, Iran, inv. no.430. exhibited as Herat, 17th century.
A common feature that all of the carpets in this group share is their mirrored design which creates an attractive balance, but also allowed the weavers to scale their designs to almost any size. A significantly larger example from the same group with a linked arabesque border, formerly in the Toms Collection, was offered the these Rooms, 24 October, 2019, lot 266, and another sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2002, lot 100. Two slightly smaller examples that have manipulated this field design to produce a square format sold in these Rooms, 13 October 2005, lot 65 and 7 October 2014, lot 47.
Unlike the afore-mentioned examples, the design of the present carpet incorporates a small inscription. The inscription consists of four pairs of Devanagari letters, which may correspond with the initials of weavers or the initial letters of words from a mantra