Silk Kashan Carpet

Carpet

Carpets of this type are generally attributed to Kashan, a town between Isfahan and Tehran that was a well-known center for silk-weaving in Safavid times. This group of rugs from the classical period of carpet weaving is easily recognized by the all-silk construction, and the beautifully drawn and sophisticated design of the central medallion scheme on a floral ground, often completed with corner medallions. The central medallion was used for both large and small rugs; it has frequently been mentioned that its design was inspired by the art of illumination—in particular, that of book covers. The octagonal, lobed medallion is formed from an eight-pointed star decorated with palmettes,floral scrolls, and blossoms. Pendant from the medallion are cartouches and escutcheons containing leaf scrolls, and trefoils. Quarter-medallions with the same contours but not the same floral devices as the central medallion, as well as partial escutcheons and cartouches, fill each corner. Symmetrically arranged floral scrolls systems containing palmettes, rosettes, and leaves, enliven the field. In the main border, a row of alternating palmettes and lotuses facing away from the field is placed on a floral ground of rosettes and leaves. The inner guard band reflects a more formal version of a floral-and-leaf scroll, while the outer band has reciprocal palmettes, rosettes, and leaves on a floral scroll.

Carolyn Kane in [Berlin 1981]

Marking: - Label sewn on backing: Loan Exhibition of... / in aid of the NY Society of Decorative... / be held at the America (?) Art Gallery / 6 East 26th Street from...Property of John Taylor Johnston / Adress 8 Fifth Ave / Description of article A Persian silk rug / Value $2000 /...out and secured...

John Taylor Johnston, New York; Mrs. Douglas M. Moffat, New York (until 1958; gifted to MMA)

New York. The Hagop Kevorkian Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Four Silk Kashan Rugs," August 2, 1994–February 5, 1995, no catalogue.

New York. Asia Society. "Hunt for Paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran," October 16, 2003–January 18, 2004, not in catalogue.

Walker, Daniel S. "Metropolitan Quartet." Hali no. 76 (1994). pp. 104–7, 120.

Erdmann, Kurt. Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, edited by Hanna Erdmann. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1970. p. 63, ill. fig. 65 (b/w).

Dimand, Maurice S., and Jean Mailey. Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973. no. 16, pp. 58, 102, ill. fig. 82 (b/w).

"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 95, pp. 228–29, ill. (color).