SOUTH INDIA, 18TH CENTURY

In 1986 a group of rugs was studied in the trade associations in Kyoto, Japan, which appeared to show a hitherto unknown type of Indian weaving. Subsequent to this a few more were discovered, but with two possible exceptions, all were still in Japan (Daniel Walker; Flowers Underfoot, New York, 1997, pp.136-146).

Woven on a cotton foundation with 9-plied strands and blue wefts, it is widely considered that they were woven in the Deccan in India. In her extensive thesis on the subject, Yumiko Kamada discusses both the reasons as to where and why these rugs were woven but also the way in which they appear in such high numbers in Japan, (Y. Kamada, Flowers on Floats: The Production, Circulation, and Reception of Early Modern Indian Carpets, New York University, 2011). Kamada suggests that, in contrast to the finer and more expensive weavings of Persia, these smaller, and less costly examples proved attractive to the merchant classes and began to be traded by the East India Companies as a commercial commodity. Through the international commercial network, Deccani carpets were widely distributed particularly to Japan, Portugal, England and the Netherlands and appeared in the households adding exoticism and opulence to interiors, (Kamada, op.cit., pp.403-5).

Similar looking rugs also appear in Dutch paintings of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as seen in Johannes Vermeer's painting, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, 1662, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (illustrated below). However, whereas these carpets were used within the households of wealthy Europeans, in Japan they were honoured in a different way and became prized possessions used, amongst other textiles, to adorn the ceremonial floats of the annual Kyoto Gion Festival. The festival is one of Japan's most important annual events which has been devotedly celebrated for over a millennium. It is due to the way in which these carpets were so cared for in Japan, that so many have remained in such good condition, with this rug and the following lot being of no exception.

Both the present rug and the following lot hail from the same Japanese consignor, and belong to this same group, defined by their colouring, technique and design. On both rugs the design derives from Persian Safavid 'in and out' palmette designs, however the weave and handle of these rugs is notably coarser, and the execution of design stiffer than the examples that they copied. The predominant red and orange hues are also typical of this group, as is a larger inner than outer border, and a relatively short and narrow format that rarely exceeds 8ft. in length. Comparable examples from this group sold in these Rooms, 14 October 1999, lot 147, of 17th century Mughal design; Christie's London, 16 April 2007, lot 49 and Christie's New York, 24 November 2009, lot 340, of Mughal lattice design.