on persian rugs of the so-called polish type

The Smithsonian InstitutionRegents of the University of Michigan

On Persian Rugs of the So-Called Polish TypeAuthor(s): Tadeuz MańkowskiSource: Ars Islamica, Vol. 4 (1937), pp. 456-459Published by: Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the Historyof Art, University of MichiganStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25167051 .

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NOTES

ON PERSIAN RUGS OF THE SO-CALLED

POLISH TYPE

For the Polish historian of art the problem of

Persian rugs of the so-called Polish type offers a

series of interesting points, and, exclusively on the

ground of Polish sources, many curious details

may be added to the subject of the organization of weaving. Poland's relations with the East were

so active at one time and the part played by the

Polish Armenians was so prominent that more

than one reason may be found to explain the

presence of these rugs in Poland, and it is per

haps only through the medium of Poland that

they were brought farther to the West. I have

endeavored to explain this fact in another article

(T. Mankowski, "Influence of Islamic Art in

Poland," Ars Islamica, II, Pt. i, pp. 93-117).

Artistic weaving in Persia may be said to

have had two phases. On the one hand there was

the popular production of rugs by the large masses of weavers who followed old traditions

of form deeply rooted in the minds of the Per

sian people. They carried on that art as a home

industry and wove designs which had been used

through generations. On the other hand the

rulers of the land influenced the weaving of rugs

by calling to their court the most skillful work ers and ordering them to weave according to

new cartoons supplied by painters. Thus the

popular art and ornament, which had sprung from the lower classes, encountered the more

refined and artistic form forced upon weaving

by the court.

When Shah 'Abbas I (1587-1629), whom

history has called the Great, mounted the throne

of Persia, the weaving of rugs had already at

tained a high degree of development under the

protection of his predecessors. An excellent or

ganizer as well as a great warrior, he determined

to take this domain into his hands too, and to

regulate its production for the benefit of the

king and the royal treasury as well as for the

profit of the large number of weavers.

The most important source of information

concerning the organization of the Persian weav

ing centers has been until now the accounts of

the chevalier Chardin (Voyages du M. chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de VOrient,

1664-1677, ed. Langles, Paris, 1811 [first edi

tion, Amsterdam, 1740]), the French traveler,

who lived in the second half of the seventeenth

century. I am in a position to augment them

here by recording certain narrations which have

not been used previously.

A Polish Jesuit and missionary, Father Krusinski (Thadaco Krusinski, Tragica verten

tis belli Per ski Hist or ia per repetitas clades ab anno 1711 ad annum 1728 continuata . . . , So

cietatis Jesu, Missionario Persico, Leopoli, 1740) lived in Persia from 1704 to 1729. He was an

acute observer of the country and a good judge

of its history, and in his account he character

izes the methods of Shah 'Abbas I as follows: "In the matter of garments and dress for the

royal court of Persia, the foresight of Shah

'Abbas I causes all kinds of workshops to be erected in the provinces of Shir wan, Karabagh

Gilan, Kashan, Kirman, Mashhad, Astrabad,

and in the capital Isfahan itself. In these nu

merous workshops and under the close superin tendence of overseers, silk tissues and scarves for

common use as well as royal turbans called

Madyl (Madyl = mandil [Arabic]) are woven

in a marvellous and beautiful manner, rugs and

tissues of all kinds are unceasingly produced for

the royal court." (Krusinski, ibid., p. 219:

Quod rem vestiariam Aulae Persicae attinet,

regia eiusdem magni Szah Abas providentia in

provinciis Szyrvan, Karabach, Gylan, Kaszan,



NOTES 457

Kyrman, Meszat, Astrabat et in ipsa Asphani

Metropoli, omnis generis plurimae officinae ex

structae. Ubi exacta praefectorum cura parmi

serici, cincturae, turn ad communem usum, turn

quas in Cydarim vulgo Madyl, mira elegantia

flectunt, tapetia et omne textrinum opus con

tinuo opere pro aula Regia elaborantur.)

The eight provinces in which Shah 'Abbas I

organized the already existing weaving manu

facture did not lie in only one part of the em

pire. If we look at the map of Persia, we may

see that the above-mentioned provinces are

scattered all over the enormous expanse of the

Persian empire of those days. The Shah created

"officinae" managed by his officers in those cen

ters where artistic weaving had been flourishing

and where it had had its finest traditions. Here

our Jesuit gives us important information con

cerning the Shah's orders, which I am going to

repeat: "According to orders which had been

issued, in each place different kinds of silk

tissues and different sorts of textiles were to be

produced." (Kursinski, ibid., p. 219: Haec in

super ordinatione facta, ut in quolibet loco alia

serici panni species, alia textrini operis fieret.)

Therefore we see that, in carrying out this

organization, it had been the Shah's intention to

preserve the unique character of artistic weaving

and its peculiarities of style, which had existed

up to that time in different parts of Persia. The central workshops under the management of

royal officers were intended to benefit the king's household as well as the whole empire.

Father Krusinski's information throws a

new light on the weaving centers organized un

der Shah ' Abbas I. They supplement Char din's

well-known narrations, which contain more de

tails but speak less of the weaving itself. In

spite of their being written previous to those of

Krusinski, they do not describe the whole or

ganization of Persian weaving so minutely as

does Krusinski, who in his reports reaches back

as far as the end of the sixteenth century.

With the exception of this one detail, both

accounts coincide as to the organization of the

karkans (Pers. karkhane = workshop), as all

weaving shops were generally called. In speak

ing of the weavers, Krusinski tells us that:

"Established masters of this art who were en

dowed with lands were accustomed to transmit

the secret of their art along with their other

properties to their sons or, if they had none, to

their adopted heirs." (Krusinski, ibid., p. 220:

Operis artifices constituti et agris donati artis secretum cum haereditate ad filios, si suos non

habent adoptivos transmittebant.)

In Chardin's narratives we read about the

weavers who worked in the karkans, as well as

of those who worked at home under the control

of royal overseers who inspected their work

shops. Doubtless only the most skillful weavers

were employed in the royal karkans, and it was

from there that the most costly and sumptuous, as well as the most carefully executed rugs came.

These luxurious fabrics were made partly for the

royal household and partly for export, the latter

helping to fill the royal treasury. The problem of exportation was given by Shah 'Abbas to a

special state organization and is reported and

explained by Krusinski: "Therefore these work

shops do not produce only what is necessary for

the court and courtiers at very small cost to the

treasury, aside from the expense for silver thread,

but they also enrich the royal treasury beyond

measure, as whole cargoes of more valuable silk

tissues and rugs brocaded with gold and silk

thread are sent to Europe, and above all to India,

to be sold by the royal salesmen." (Krusinski,

ibid., p. 220: Haec igitur officinae non solum

necessaria ad vestitum aulae et omnium auli

corum parvo praeter argenteum filum fisci dis

pendio suppeditant, sed insuper Regium fiscum

non mediocriter ditant. Interdum enim preti

osores panni serici et tapetia aureo filo et serico

picta, integris navibus oneratis in Europam et



458 NOTES

vel maxime in Indias, cum Regiis mercatoribus

distrahendi mittuntur.) This detail about the organized selling of the

costliest rugs produced in the royal karkans

helps one to understand a fact that has puzzled

many for a long time, but could not be ade

quately explained. Fine rugs brocaded with gold and silver thread are to be found abroad, out

side Persia, in different collections and antiquary

shops. They were discovered especially often in

Poland, but they could not be traced anywhere in Persia. The Krusinski report gives us the

key to that enigma. These fine rugs produced in the royal karkans were either used at the

royal court or they were sold by the king's deal

ers in Europe and particularly in India.

This, however, does not mean that private

orders were not accepted and executed in the

royal workshops. Char din relates that the head

weavers in the karkans always had time at their

own disposition for weaving rugs ordered by

private persons, especially rugs destined for

abroad.

Moreover there exists another side of the

organization of royal manufacturing under Shah

'Abbas I to which the attention of the student

must be called. This is the union of the royal

weaving shops with another group of royal

artist-craftsmen, i.e. the designers and painters.

Without this close union the weaving of rugs would perhaps not have attained so high an

artistic level, and perhaps there would never

have been created among Persian silk rugs a

type distinguishing itself from other rugs, a type in which the hand of the draftsman who supplied

the cartoon is discerned so clearly among the

other characteristics and values which enchant

us in these masterpieces of old Persian rugs

brocaded with gold and silk thread. In creating the type of court rug, the de

signer worked from established artistic tradi

tions. Besides this, however, another and a

deciding factor enters here in the creative power

of the painters and draftsmen who supplied the cartoons for the rugs in the royal workshops.

In the organization of the Persian Shahs' court which had been reformed by Shah 'Abbas

I, painting played an important part. Court

painters were put on nearly the same level as

weavers and other craftsmen, but they had their

own chief, who was the so-called Nakhishkar

bashi (this name or title is composed of the words: nakhsh ~-

drawing, painting, adorning;

kar = work; bash =

head, chief; therefore

Nakhishkar-bashi means, chief head of the art

ists, draftsmen, as well as painters and other

workmen occupied with decorative adornment),

doubtless a prominent painter himself. It is

again to Polish sources that we owe information

on this subject. In one place in his book Krusin

ski says: "Nakhishkar-bashi, i.e. the chief, set

over the royal painting, to which art the Per

sians attach great importance ..." (Krusinski,

ibid., Appendix, p. 217). It is doubtful that the task of the court painters was limited only to the execution of cartoons for the royal weaving

workshops, and we may believe that they also had to supply designs for the painting of earthen

ware, tiles, etc. This is indicated by the resem

blance of designs among these various arts.

Nakhishkar-bashi was the one who had the

greatest influence on the taste and style of the court art, and this showed itself in the works of

miniature painting, as well as in rugs, wall tiles,

and, last but not least, in the binding of books. It was not only the ancient artistic culture

of the weaver or court painter, possessing a high understanding of his art, but also the artist's

individual traits and personal talent, which

transformed the ancient patterns in a highly

original way. He could afford not only to paint

small miniatures, subtly executed, but to design

the energetic lines of boldly invented ornaments

for a rug.

Besides the artist who designed the orna

mental cartoon, the hand of the weaver played



NOTES 459

no small part. It was he who changed the car

toon into tissue, indicating the design and color. The intentions of the painter of the cartoon

could not always be closely executed in a rug.

The material itself and the different conditions of weaving technique very often obliged the

weaver to changes in execution and in color

harmony. Therefore the place of the weaver in

creating such a work of art is in no way sec

ondary to that of the cartoonist, and they should

be considered as joint creators.

In his narration of the events in Persia dur

ing his stay there, Father Krusinski states:

"During the siege of Isfahan, when famine had

scattered the weavers, the art of a special method

of brocading silk tissues with silver thread . . .

was entirely lost. Nor is there any possi

bility, even in case some of the master-weavers

have survived or have been able to escape, that

this art could revive under the Afghans' rule,

who feel an aversion to objects of Persian cul

ture." (Krusinski, ibid., p. 220: Aspahani ob

sidionis tempore fame evectis artificibus, ars

ipsa speciali modo serico panno argentei fili in

ter texendi . . . totaliter interiit. Nee periculum,

si qui supervixerint artis magistri vel effugerint, ut ab Aghvanis, quibus Persicus cultus sordet,

resuscitetur.)

This interesting information confirms the date of decadence of the royal rug factories and

weaving shops in Isfahan during the siege of the capital in 1722. It was followed by the downfall of the greater part of other royal kar

kans situated in the different Persian provinces,

after the collapse of the Safawid dynasty. The royal karkans became disorganized, and

their work stopped. The flourishing epoch of

Persian rug-weaving, which had attained its

highest perfection in the silk rugs brocaded with

gold and silver thread, and which had begun under Shah 'Abbas I, perhaps even under Shah

Tamasp, closed with the downfall of the Safa wids. This art was not to revive again, and in

the eighteenth century the export of silk Persian

rugs into Poland came to its end.

Tadeuz Mankowski

A NEW MUGHAL PAINTING ON STUFF

Included among the choice collection of

Mughal paintings bequeathed in 1929 to Bed ford College for Women, a constituent part of

London University, by Lady Herringham, well known for her copies of the Ajanta frescoes, is a picture of considerable historical as well as

aesthetic value. It is a painting on stuff of a

procession of elephants, and in its present state

it measures 33 centimeters by 39 centimeters

(Fig. 1). The original dimensions were obviously greater: it has probably lost a considerable amount from the top, an inch or two from the

right side, and has been trimmed along the other two sides. In addition, it has suffered consider

ably from wear and apparently also from damp.

The present mounting, of no great age, is Indian,

perhaps of the late eighteenth century. Except for the head of the principal elephant the picture is free from retouching. In spite of all the dis

figurements it remains a fine painting thanks to

the strength of the composition and the brilliancy of the coloring.

The subject of the painting is evidently a

procession, not a hunting expedition but possibly a triumphal return from a military expedition; however, the principal figure, who is evidently the young prince acting as mahout to the central

elephant, is unarmed, and the incident is more

likely an ordinary progress by one of the Mughal princes. Of this figure unfortunately nothing remains but the original outline drawing, after

wards covered by the opaque paint. The features

are fairly clear.

Before attempting to identify the prince it would be as well to examine the rest of the paint

ing for evidence of the date at which it was pro

duced. The small turbans, the sleeveless tunic



on persian rugs of the so-called polish type

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