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Fragments of a Carpet with Lattice and Blossom Pattern

ca. 1650
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 462
This carpet represents the highest level of production—imperial grade—made with an extremely fine weave and costly materials. It looks and feels like velvet, but the pile is actually pashmina wool, made from the fleece of Himalayan mountain goats. Its decorative style, with its floral forms, is typical of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s taste, seen also in the architectural ornament and manuscript illumination produced during his reign. These fragments constitute about one quarter of the original carpet, which was over twenty-three feet long, an enormous size for a carpet of this quality.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fragments of a Carpet with Lattice and Blossom Pattern
  • Date: ca. 1650
  • Geography: Made in India or present-day Pakistan, Kashmir or Lahore
  • Medium: Silk (warp and weft), pashmina wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
  • Dimensions: Textile: L. 155 3/4 in. (395.6 cm)
    W. 55 1/4 in. (140.3 cm)
    Mount: L. 66 in. (167.6 cm)
    W. 168 in. (426.7 cm)
    D. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
    Weight: 263 lbs (119.3 kg)
  • Classification: Textiles-Rugs
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
  • Object Number: 14.40.723
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Carpet with Irises, Tulips, and Other Flowering Plants, Cotton (warp and weft); wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Carpet with Irises, Tulips, and Other Flowering Plants
ca. 1650
Pashmina Carpet with Gateway-and-Millefleur Pattern, Cotton (warp and weft), pashmina wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Pashmina Carpet with Gateway-and-Millefleur Pattern
second half 18th century
Carpet with Scrolling Vines and Blossoms, Silk (warp and weft), pashmina wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Carpet with Scrolling Vines and Blossoms
ca. 1650
Silk Animal Carpet, Silk (warp, weft, and pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Silk Animal Carpet
second half 16th century
The 'Nigde' Carpet, Cotton (warp and weft), wool (pile); symmetrically knotted pile
The 'Nigde' Carpet
18th century

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