Carpet

Carpet

Cairo, a long-established weaving center, has been considered as the probable origin for this carpet of the group called Cairene because of certain affinities it has with Mamluk carpets produced in Egypt before and after the Ottoman conquest of 1517. These features are: the limited palette of light red, blue, green, and sometimes yellow; the use of the asymmetrical, or Senneh, knot; and the all-wool structure. Although there are structural and color similarities to the Mamluk creations, conspicuous details manifest Ottoman court designs, including typical Ottoman naturalistic flowers and lanceate leaves, the cloud band in the inner subguard, the richer, more expansive design, the harmony of the two types of field repeats, and the skillful weaving. Although courtly taste was certainly favored for the pattern, the somewhat fuzzy rendering of the secondary field pattern may point to a provincial atelier.

There are two infinite-repeat patterns in the field—an underlying floral octagonal scheme and a design of circular lobed medallions placed over it—thus reproducing a conventionalized design for a book cover, with a definitely focused center, and four partial corner medallions. Color changes often noted in this group can be seen from row to row. Tulips, hyacinths, carnations, what appear to be poppies, and a composite blossom decorate the circular medallions, while artful palmettes, peonies, and lotuses surround the the central composite rosette of the octagons. Other natural and stylized flowers and lanceate leaves fill the void. The main border, with a good corner solution, resembles an imaginary, formal flower bed with pomegranate and floral sprays alternating with trilobed leaves, situated on a groundline strewn with flowers. Adjoining rosettes are in the guard bands, placed between subguards with reciprocal motifs.

Carolyn Kane in [Berlin 1981]

James F. Ballard, St. Louis, MO (until 1922; gifted to MMA)

Loan Exhibition of Oriental Rugs from the Collection of James F. Ballard of St. Louis, MO.. no. 67, p. 24, ill. (b/w).

Breck, Joseph, and Frances Morris. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art." In The James F. Ballard Collection of Oriental Rugs. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1923. no. 20, p. 14, ill. (b/w).

Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. pp. 263, 268, ill. fig. 161 (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. 107, pp. 203, 233, ill. fig. 190 (b/w).

Denny, Walter B. "The Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques." In Oriental Rugs, edited by Brenda Gilchrist. New York: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1979. pp. 35–36, ill. fig. 20 (b/w).

"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 115, pp. 270–71, ill. (b/w).