imperial puzzle: sixteenth-century persian spiral carpets

SAFAVID PERSIAN CARPETS

66 HALI ISSUE 170

SIXTEENTH-CENTURY PERSIAN SPIRALVINE CARPETS WITH ANIMALS

As a posthumous tribute to one of the most prolific independent carpet scholarsof her generation, we publish Dr Klose’s final ICOC paper, given in Istanbul in2007, in which she reconstructs the extent of a highly regarded design type ofearly Safavid ‘Hunting’ carpets through a comparative survey of known carpetsand carpet fragments, some previously unpublished.

imperialpuzzle

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CHRISTINE KLOSE


HALI ISSUE 170 67

CARPETS OF THIS WELL-KNOWN CLASSICAL PERSIANtype from the early Safavid period in the 16th century havepatterns of flowers, cloudbands, animals, and spiralling vinesystems. At least nine carpets of the group (I-IX) are known,based on five design cartoon variations (A-E). Their place oforigin has not been conclusively determined: workshops in thecities of Herat, Esfahan and Kashan have all been suggested, butdocuments offering definite proof are lacking.

Only three of the nine identifiable early ‘spiral vine carpetswith animals’ now survive complete. They are the famous pairof so-called Emperors’ carpets (cartoon A), both formerly inthe Habsburg Imperial Collection (see HALI 31, 1986, p.14). Thesebeautiful carpets were, by unverifiable tradition, diplomatic giftsfrom Tsar Peter the Great of Russia (r.1682-1725) to the HolyRoman Emperor Leopold I (r.1658-1705). Now separated, todaythey are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork 1, and the Öster reichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst(MAK) in Vienna 2. Also in the MAK, the third completeexample of the group (cartoon B), is in very poor condition 3.

At least six further examples of the spiral vine with animalsgroup can be identified from more than two dozen additionaloriginal fragments and sections – some of which have beenincorporated into pieced, reassembled and rewoven carpets –that are distributed among a number of inter nationalcollections. Regrettably such classical carpets were seldom ifever properly documented before they were cut into pieces.

In this study I have attempted to arrange the survivingfragments according to their pattern groups and describe howthey fit together, illustrating their probable placement on theoriginal carpets. As far as is pos sible, I have reconstructed theimages of the carpets as they would originally have appeared.

All nine known spiral vine carpets with animals have manyfeatures in common. They are elongated in format, being morethan twice as long as they are wide. The largest examplesmeasure some seven and a half by three and a half metres(24' x 12'). Shared structural characteristics include asymmet-rically knotted fine woollen (pashmina?) pile, open to theleft, and the exclusive use of silk for the warps, which are ontwo levels due to the fineness of the knotting and othertechnical traits. Knot density varies between about 3,000 to5,000 knots per square decimetre (circa 200-325/square inch).There are always three weft shoots between each row of knots.The weft materials are not uniform: the seven carpets wovenfrom cartoons A and B have three-strand silk wefts; in theother three (cartoons C, D and E) the outer wefts are woolwhile the middle one is cotton. A large number of colours isemployed, between twelve and eighteen.

The spiral vine carpets with animals all have saturated redgrounds. Their field patterns are symmetrical in all essentialdetails on both vertical and horizontal axes, so to create thecomplete design a quarter can be quadrupled by two-foldmirroring. The design elements of the field are carried on two spiral vine systems in different colours, on two levels,offset from each other by half a spiral unit both horizontallyand vertically 4. The upper system (blue in the sketch butdarker on the carpets) includes, in the vertical direction,three linked spirals in each quarter of the field.

Seeing the spirals on the carpets themselves an be quitedifficult because they are overlaid by so many different motifs,especially floral arrangements of various sizes. Large palmettesare juxtaposed with paired cloudbands. Many identifiableanimals as well as fantastic creatures from Chinese mythologyare placed in a variety of orientations. They appear individually,often in hunting posture, ready to pounce, or in pairings offelines attacking prey animals. These are indeed hunting scenesdespite the absence of human hunters. A few beasts are placedwithin palmettes, and some flower heads bear lion masks.

The border systems of the group consist of a relatively widemain stripe flanked by narrow guard stripes. The pattern ing of

CARPETS I & II

1 The New York Emp -

erors’ Carpet (detail),

Safavid Persia, 16th

century. 3.39 x 7.60m

(11'1" x 24'11"). Tsar

Peter the Great by

tradition until 1698;

Habsburg Collection

1698-1921; Museum

für Kunst & Industrie

1921-25; Cardinal &

Harford 1925-28;

Arthur Upham Pope

for Edith Rocke feller

McCormick, Chicago

1928-1943; Metro -

politan Museum of

Art, New York, Rogers

Fund, 43.121.1

2 The Vienna Emper -

ors’ Carpet, Safavid

Persia, 16th century.

3.50 x 7.44m (11'6" x

24'5"). Tsar Peter the

Great by tradition until

1698; Habsburg

Collection 1698-1922;

Museum für Kunst

und Industrie/Museum

für ange wandte Kunst,

Vienna, MAK T 8334

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68 HALI ISSUE 170

CARPETS III-VI (CARTOON B) The most important difference between carpets made fromcartoons A and B is the primary border design. Only very slightdifferences between the cartoons can be seen in the treatmentof some animal motifs in the field. Cartoon B pieces haveidentical ivory-ground main borders with wide, undulat ingred strap-work arabesque bands bearing dark blue, dark greenand occasional gold palmettes facing in alternate directions 5.

Given its close similarity to the Emperors’ carpets and itsdesign symmetry, we know that carpet 111 in Vienna 3, althoughdamaged and missing minor areas along its central verticalaxis, is essentially complete. It is thus possible to determinethe dimensions and design characteristics of cartoon B carpetsand theoretically to complete missing areas. Using carpet IIIas a guide, some twenty known cartoon B fragments can bepositioned on three further carpets (IV-VI) with some certainty.

Carpet IV is a counterpart to carpet III. Eight surviving frag -ments are marked on the drawn recon struction 6. The mostimpressive three sections (purple), have been reassem bled intowhat is sometimes known as the Bacri carpet 7, now withMATAM in Milan. The full original width of the field is pre -served, but not its length. The middle section is missing andthe carpet is sewn together from the original upper and lowersections along an inverted arch-shaped seam. The lower partof the left border was acquired separately in 1996 and put backin place. The rest of the left border is rewoven.

However, additional original parts of carpet IV exist that fitinto the some of the spaces left by the Milan carpet. Two joinedborder fragments in the Textile Museum in Wash ington DC 8,

lion

bird dog

bird

flaming

lion on chilin

leopard on

gazelle

Ibex

tiger

leopard

bir

d

chilin

bird

wolfchilin

lion oncow

stag

3 CARPET III

Safavid spiral vine

carpet with animals,


3.08 x 7.32m (10'1" x

24'1"). MAK, Vienna,

T 8376

4 Diagram of a quar -

ter of the field of a

spiral vine carpet

with animals show -

ing vine systems on

two levels in different

colours. The systems

are offset from each

other by half a spiral

unit both horizontally

and vertically. The

upper system (blue)

shows three linked

spirals in each quarter

of the field.

5 Detail of 7 show ing

the ivory-ground main

border with wide

undulating red strap-

work arab esque

bands bearing dark

blue and dark green

palmettes facing in

alternate directions

characteristic of

carpets III-VII

6 CARPET IV.

Eight frag ments are

shown in the

reconstruction. The

purple sections

repre sent the three

joined pieces that

make up the MATAM

composite carpet in

Milan 7. Two joined

border frag ments in

the Washington

Textile Museum 8,

and another in a

North American

private col lection 11

are shown in blue.

A small bor derless

field section in the

David Collection,

Copenhagen 9, and a

mirror image piece

with inner and main

borders from the

Oriental Art Museum

in Turin 10, are marked

in orange and brown

respectively

the borders is not consistent. Three primary border designvariants are preserved, and the guard stripes too show severaldifferent patterns. The corners are always perfectly resolved.

CARPETS I-II, THE EMPERORS’ CARPETS (CARTOON A)This pair 1, 2 are the largest carpets in the group and have thefinest drawing. Their impressive dark green-ground main border,decorated with cloudbands, arabesques and spiral vines, isparticularly richly drawn. Unusually in carpets, the centralcloudband motif in each border is distinguished by its largersize, careful symmetry and rectilinear alignment. The innerguard borders bear yellow inscription cartouches, barelylegible, of verses including praises of the Shah, suggestingthat these carpets were probably made for the monarch. The outer red-ground borders show cloudbands over a vinedecorated with flowers. The borders do not cut through anyof the field motifs. (See also ‘Masterpiece’ this Issue.)

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HALI ISSUE 170 69

CARPET IV CONTD.

7 Safavid spiral vine



2.75 x 3.85m (9'0" x

12'7"). The full field

width is preserved,

but the middle section

is mis sing and the

composite carpet is

sewn together from

the original upper and

lower sections. The

lower left border

sec t ion, measuring

0.40 x 1.67m (1'4" x

5'6"), was acquired

separ ately at auction

in 1996 (HALI 90,

p.124) and reinstated.

For merly Bacri Frères,

Paris; The Textile

Gal lery, London; Wher

Collection, Lugano.

MATAM Collection,

Milan, courtesy Moshe

Tabibnia Gallery, Milan

8 Two joined main and

inner border frag ments

from carpet IV. 0.71 x

0.79m (2'4" x 2'7").

The Textile Museum,

Washing ton DC,

acquired by George

Hewitt Myers in

1952, R 33.4.15

9 Field fragment

from carpet IV. 0.27

x 0.58m (11" x 1'11").

David Collection,

Copenhagen, 5/1973.

10 Field, inner and

main border fragment

from carpet IV. 1.10 x

0.60m (3'7" x 2'0").

Museo d'arte Orien -

tale, Turin, MAO ISt/1

11 Main and inner

border fragment

from carpet IV. 0.38

x 1.24m (1'3" x 4'1").

Marshall & Marilyn

R. Wolf Collection,

Toronto

6

7

8 9

1110


70 HALI ISSUE 170

CARPET V

12 Safavid spiral

vine carpet with

animals, Persia,

16th century. This

composite carpet is

assembled from

three fragments of

carpet V (purple).

3.05 x 3.76m (10'0"

x 12'4"). Victoria &

Albert Museum,

London, purchased

from Mrs Spencer

Brunton, London,

VAM 601-1894

13 Field section of

carpet V comprising

15

12

16

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HALI ISSUE 170 71

and another in a North American private collection 11 areshown in brown. The inner border on these fragments is thesame as that seen on carpets III and V so we may reasonablyassume that the outer border too was the same. Two furtherfragments survive from the lower half of the carpet – a smallborderless piece in the David Collection, Copenhagen 9 (red)and a mirror-image piece with inner and main borders fromthe Museum of Oriental Art in Turin 10 (orange).

Carpet V is a second pendant to carpet III. The recon s t ruc -tion shows ten surviving sections 15 . The composite carpet inthe Victoria & Albert Museum, London 12 is made up fromthree pieces sewn together (purple). The full width and bothends are preserved. A piece formerly in the Edward James Found -ation, Chichester 13 is sewn together from two adjacent frag -ments to form a section that comprises about a third of the

two adjacent frag -

ments (blue) sewn

together. 1.23 x

2.22m (4'0" x 7'3").

Formerly Edward

James Foun dation,

Chichester, Sussex;

Oliver Hoare, London.

Private collection

14 Section of carpet V

comprising field and

outer border frag -

ments (brown). 0.82

x 1.93m (2'8" x 6'4").

Formerly Charles T.

Yerkes Collection;

Capt ain J.R. De Lamar.

Present whereabouts

unknown. Hand-col -

oured photo graph after

Mumford 1910, no.3.

15 Carpet V comprises

ten fragments: three

large pieces sewn

together in the V&A

com posite carpet

(pur ple) 12; two joined

field pieces for merly in

Chichester (blue) 13;

three Yerkes field and

guard stripe frag ments

(brown) 14; a small

field fragment in the

MAD, Paris (orange)

16; and another small

lower field fragment

in the V&A (red)

16 Field fragment

of carpet V. 0.66 x

0.44m (2'2" x 1'5").

Formerly Joseph

Aynard Collec tion.

Musée des Arts

Décoratifs, Paris,

acquired in 1914,

MAD 19417

17 Lower right field

fragment of carpet v.

0.87 x 0.63m (2'10"

x 2'1"). Victoria &

Albert Museum,

London, given by

Mrs Spencer Brunton,

VAM 38-1892

CARPET VI




Carpet VI consists of

three fragments: a

complete corner piece

at the MAK in Vienna

(blue) 19; another

corner piece 20, and

a near com plete lower

right field quarter 21,

both in Liberec

(purple). The three

frag ments show that

the guard stripes on

carpet VI differed from

those on carpets III-V.

19 Corner section

of carpet VI. 1.35 x

1.81m (4'5" x 5.11").

Formerly Constan -

tinople art market

(1891); Museum für

Kunst und Industrie,

Vienna; KK Handels-

Museum, Vienna.

Österreichisches

Museum für ange -

wandte Kunst, Vienna,

Or 1981/1907 HM

20 Corner section of

carpet VI. 1.24 x 0.74m

(4'1" x 2'5"). North

Bohemia Museum,

Liberec, T3685

21 Central field

quarter section of

carpet VI. In this

composite section,

the narrow blue-

ground inner border

fragments, which

come from the left

vertical side of the

field, have been incor -

rectly reattached to

the central axis of

the field fragment.

0.96 x 3,10m (3'2"

x 10'2"). North

Bohemia Museum,

Liberec, Czech

Republic, T3684

18

20

19

21

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72 HALI ISSUE 170

CARPET VII



field and inner border

section of carpet VII.


1.88 x 1.20m (6'2" x

3'11"). Victoria &

Albert Museum,

London, purchased

from Stanislas Baron,

Paris, VAM 670-1896

23 Composite Safavid

carpet incorporating

the Bern heimer

fragment 25,16th-

20th century. 1.77 x

4.05m (5'10" x 13'3").

Formerly De Motte,

Paris. The Textile

Museum, Washing -

ton DC, acquired by

George Hewitt Myers

in 1926, TM R33.4.11

24 Carpet VII consists

of two large original

sections, both with

the full field width

and the inner minor

border. One is in the

V&A, London 22

(purple), while the

ex-Bern heimer frag -

ment 25 (blue) is now

part of the largely

rewoven De Motte/

Myers carpet in the

Textile Museum 23

25 Field and inner

border section of

carpet VII. Formerly

Bernheimer, Munich.

After Sarre & Martin,

Mesiterwerke

Muham medanischer

Kunst, supplementary

volume, Munich

1912, no.22

24

23 25

22

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HALI ISSUE 170 73

field next to the left hand border (blue). The others are thecomposite Yerkes/De Lamar field and guard border fragments(brown), present location unknown 14, a small field fragment(orange) from the Joseph Aynard Collection in the Musée desArts Décoratifs, Paris 16, and a small lower field fragment (red),also in the V&A 17, which was acquired in the 1890s from thesame source, Mrs Spencer Brunton, as the composite carpet.The James, Yerkes/De Lamar and Aynard pieces fit together andall form part of the same original carpet as the V&A sections.

Carpet VI 18 may be reconstructed from three known frag -ments: a large corner piece in Vienna 19 (blue) showing the fullborder system, as well as another complete corner 20 and analmost complete lower right field quarter 21, from the NorthBohemia Museum in Liberec, formerly Reichenberg, in theCzech Republic (purple). These fragments show that the guardstripes on carpet VI were of a different design to those seen oncarpets III-V. Both inner and outer guards show a vine decoratedwith arabesques, the outer red-ground stripe being somewhatmore elegant. On the left vertical side of the Liberec fieldquarter section, the blue-ground inner border has been sewnincorrectly on the central axis of the fragment, not to the sideof the field where it belongs.

CARPET VIII




Carpet VIII comprises

two large field and

border fragments,

one in the Hamburg

Museum für Kunst &

Gewerbe 27 (purple),

the other in a private

collection 28 (blue).

The carpet is cut

along the horizontal

axis with parts of the

right hand vertical

border sewn to the

cut side of both

sections as horizontal

borders. A narrow full

length strip is missing

from both pieces

27 Section of field

and borders of carpet

VIII.1.86 x 3.15m (6'1"

x 10'4"). Formerly

Ulrich Schürmann,

Cologne, for the

Campe�sche Histor -

ische Kunst stiftung,

Museum für Kunst

und Gewerbe,

Hamburg, 1967.123.

After Hempel &

Preysing Alte Orient-

Teppiche, Hamburg

1970, no.3

28 Section of field and

borders of carpet VIII.

Formerly Réné de St.

Marceaux Collec tion,

Paris 1903; Julius

Böhler, Munich. After

After Sarre & Martin,

Mesiterwerke

Muham medanischer

Kunst, supplementary

volume, Munich

1912, no.21. Private

collection.

26

28

27


74 HALI ISSUE 170

CARPET VII (CARTOON C) A third cartoon, albeit one very similar to the previous two, wasused for the field design of carpet VII 24, which can be recon -structed from two field and inner border fragments. We donot know what the main and outer borders looked like.

One fragment is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London 22.Its original placement is marked in purple. The other knownfragment, exhibited in Munich in 1910 and pub lished by Sarreand Martin in 1912, is a field and inner border section, at thattime in the Bern heimer Collect ion 25. It shows both design axes,lacking only a short vertical span. Then, in 1926, in ArthurUpham Pope’s Art Club of Chicago exhibition and catalogue,there appeared a large, mainly rewoven carpet, lacking main andouter borders, but incor por a ting the original 16th century Bern -heimer fragment 23 (blue). No other part of the Chigago carpet,now in The Textile Museum in Washington DC, is original. Asthe Bernheimer fragment shows both axes, with mirror-imagingit was possible to re-create an app ar ently com p lete field withits narrow inner border. The sym metric ally-knot ted reweaveclosely follows the drawing of the frag ment, though there aresome unsatisfactory colours and the field length is reduced.

CARPET VIII (CARTOON D)Carpet VIII, woven from a fourth cartoon 26, comprises twolarge frag ments, one in the Hamburg Museum für Kunst undGewerbe 27 (purple), the other in a private collection 28 (blue).The carpet has been cut along the horizontal axis with piecesof the right hand ver tical border sewn to the cut side of bothfrag ments as horiz ontal borders. In cartoon D the floral motifs atthe side of the field are cut by the borders – unlike those incartoons A, B and C – and the large palmettes are positionedparallel to the axes. No birds are found in the field, except forone pair on a large flower, nor are masks found on the flowers.The green-ground main border shows many birds, alone andin pairs, sitting and flying between a vine with many flowers.The yellow outer minor border also depicts birds.

CARPET IX



field and inner border

section comprising

two joined fragments

of carpet IX. Persia,

16th century, 1.07 x

1.88m (3'6" x 6'2").

Musée des Arts

Décoratifs, Paris,

purchased at auction

in 1888. MAD 4457

30 Field and inner

border section of

carpet IX. 1.07 x

1.98m (3'6" x 6”6").

Victoria & Albert

Museum, London,

VAM 579-1884

31 Carpet VIII comp -

rises two mirror-

image field, main and

inner border sections.

The first, in the MAD,

Paris (blue), is itself

made up of two

joined fragments

with a small strip

between missing 29.

A second section is in

the V&A (purple) 30.

Both axes and the

main and inner bor -

ders survive, so it is

possible to recon s t -

ruct the carpet by

double mirror imaging

to a full width of over

two metres and a

length of about three

metres. About half a

metre is missing from

each end of the field

31

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CARPET IX (CARTOON E)A fifth cartoon was used for carpet Ix 31, of which three frag -ments have survived, in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris 29(blue) and in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London 30 (purple).Since the surviving parts contain both axes and the main andinner borders, we can reconstruct the carpet by double mirrorimaging to a full width of over two metres and a length of aboutthree metres. We may assume that about half a metre is missingfrom each end of the field.

The Paris piece is itself sewn together from two fragments.Only a very narrow strip between is missing, as can be seenfrom the mirror-image London piece. The absence of cloud -bands from cartoon E is especially note worthy. The very pre -cisely drawn animals stand out boldly from the design, andsome are of a different type from those seen on the otherfour cartoons. The field areas that have been preserved lackbirds or masks superimposed on palmettes, and the flowers atthe field edges are halved. The main border is related to thatseen in carpet VIII (cartoon D). Similar bird borders also occuron other Persian carpet groups.

In addition to the nine early examples mentioned above,there are both parallel and later developments of the spiralvine carpet design. Such carpets evolved along two lines. Thefirst moves towards an ever stronger emphasis on animalrepresentations (already emergent in cartoon E), with animalfigures increasing in number and prominence, the concomitantdecline of the floral vine structure, and the disappearance ofthe cloudbands. This can be seen, for instance, on a medallioncarpet with trees and animals in the Musée Historique desTissus, Lyons 32.

A second line of development moves towards the eventualcomplete disappearance of animals, while the floral patternwith double symmetrically arranged flowers and cloudbandsis retained. This line of evolution seems to have passed throughan intermediate stage, where only scattered birds and noanimals are used in the design, as in a strapwork-borderedcarpet in the Tehran Carpet Museum 33. Spiral vine carpetswithout animals on an all-cotton foundation were producedin great numbers well into the 18th century.

One group of related carpets has a particularly close affinityto the spiral vine carpets with animals. Most have a centralmedallion, but the spirals are reduced to a single layer ofshort vines, and there are numerous animals, both huntersand hunted, fewer floral elements (which also give way totrees) and cloudbands are usually absent. On certain relatedcarpets double mirror symmetry has been abandoned andgives way to a directional pattern with animals. All thesedifferent carpets with animal representations belong to atradition that was cultivated in many Persian weaving centresin the 16th and 17th centuries, where a fruitful exchange ofideas and know-how took place among the workshops.

Putting together the surviving pieces, the description oftheir common features and determining to which originalcarpets the many fragments belonged makes it possible forthe first time to bring a sense of order to this material, whichconstitutes some of Persia’s finest classical carpet production.I have shown that the known surviving carpets and fragmentsbelong to at least nine spiral vine carpets with animals, ofwhich six are woven according to the very closely similarfield cartoons A and B. The other three carpets are eachsingletons produced using a different cartoon.

The survival of historical carpets is subject to many accidentsof fate, but it seems that among the exceptionally beautifulsilk foundation spiral vine carpets with animals, the closelysimilar designs of cartoons A and B, differing only in theirborders, were the ones that were most often actually used in the court weaving atelier(s). The magnificent Emperors’carpets, which were, according to their inscriptions, wovenfor the Shah, would have provided the perfect model.

32 Safavid medallion

carpet with animals

and trees, Persia,

probably Esfahan,

late 16th century.

1.60 x 2.21m

(5'3" x 7'3"). Musée

Historique des

Tissus, Lyons,

MHT 23,921

33 Safavid palmette

and cloudband carpet

with strap work

border, Persia,

probably Esfahan,

16th century. 2.96 x

3.80m (9'9" x 12'6"),

reduced. Formerly

Spanish Art Galleries,

London. Carpet

Museum, Tehran.

After E. Gans Ruedin,

Iranian Carpets: Art,

Craft and History,

London 1978, p.95.

HALI ISSUE 170 75


32

33

imperial puzzle: sixteenth-century persian spiral carpets

Documents

classical carpets

theoriginal carpets

thesebeautiful carpets

rewoven carpets

known spiral vine carpets

carpets wovenfrom cartoons

group cartoon b

early safavid period