WALTER DENNY: One of the most celebrated carpets at the Metropolitan… is the so-called Simonetti Mamluk, named after a former owner; of the Simonetti family.

NARRATOR: “Mamluk” refers to a dynasty that ruled Egypt from the 13th through early 16th centuries. The word is also used to describe the carpets made in Egypt during that period. Move around the platform to get a sense of the progression of the design.

WALTER DENNY: The designs are largely geometric with smaller motifs, such as the papyrus motif, taken from indigenous Egyptian sources. The Simonetti carpet, in its… five colors – red, green, blue, a very small amount of white, and a small amount of dark brown outlining – is one of the most spectacular and best-known of early Mamluk carpets to have survived into our time.

NARRATOR: And how to describe what it is that makes this carpet so special?

WALTER DENNY: It's the fluency of the design, the perfection of the way that it articulates in every corner of the border, the careful planning… and above all, the beautiful lustrous wool which even in its worn state gives us a very strong impression of these glowing colors, almost all of them in the same intensity but in different hues, that create the undeniable and unique visual impression that Mamluk carpets give us, of great luxury, and at the same time great restraint.