Oriental Rugs, Antique and Modern

by W. A. Hawley

The difficulty of determining the locality where the antique carpets were woven is often greater than in the case of modern rugs, but this piece was probably one of the last of those fine old animal carpets that were woven in the northwestern part of Persia.

Though modern silk rugs fail to awaken the interest of woollen pieces, the old silk carpets were formerly regarded as the choicest products of weaving. As a rule, they were the work of the most skilled artists employed in the imperial factory under the direction and patronage of the court. It was during the reign of Shah Tamasp that they received special attention. Following a custom that had been in vogue of sending carpets as presents to foreign courts, in 1566 he sent to the Sultan of Constantinople a number of pieces on which flowers, birds, and animals were woven with silk on threads of gold. But it was doubtless after his successor Shah Abbas I had begun to embellish his capital at Ispahan, that were made the famous “Polish” silk or “Polonaise” carpets about which there has been so much controversy. It is true that Mr. Robinson in his “Eastern Carpets” claims that they were woven in Poland by Persians taken there by a Pole named Mersherski; but it seems far more probable that they were woven under the supervision of the Persian court and were either sent as presents to European sovereigns or purchased by wealthy connoisseurs of art.

How many of these pieces may be hidden away in the palaces and mosques of the far East it is impossible to determine, but two hundred would be a very conservative estimate of the number owned by the different courts of Europe and by private collectors of that country and America. One of them was presented to the Danish court as late as 1639; and it is believed that all that reached Europe arrived there between the years 1604 and 1650.

Their beauty is exquisite and chaste. To the threads of silver and gold is tied silken nap that often displays a striking brilliancy. Unlike the earlier Persian carpets which had more subdued hues, these pieces have light tones such as salmon, rose, and green, which are arranged with perfect harmony. Moreover, there is an elegance of design representing the highest types of Iranian, Saracenic, and Mongolian influences combined. Here in perfection are dainty floral forms, the rhythmic tracery of arabesques, and delicate cloud-bands. In them the textile art of the East reached a perfection that probably has never been surpassed.

One of these (Plate [17], opp. Page 80), that has a length of about nine feet and a breadth of five and a half, belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In many respects it is typical of its class, though threads of yellow and grey are substituted for the usual gold and silver of the foundation. On a field of rose are outlined palmettes, leaves, and scrolls in green, blue, brown, and salmon, that harmonise with the light blue of the border. All of these colours blend with pleasing effect and soften lines that in a print seem harsh. Furthermore with all its complexity of detail, every part of the pattern is arranged with mathematical precision. That a carpet with such perfect balance of every part, such intricacy of elaborate detail, such graceful curves of the heavy foliate leaves should be woven without copying some older pattern or a carefully executed drawing, seems improbable.

Plate 20. Asia Minor Dragon and Phoenix Carpet in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin

In this piece and in others of the same class can be recognised what is probably the prototype of more conventionalised and less elegant designs so often seen in modern Persian pieces, since the palmette with encircling lancet leaves in its borders is most suggestive of the borders of modern Herats; and the rhomboidal-shaped figure connecting four palmettes at the centre is equally suggestive of the Herati or fish pattern seen in the field of innumerable Feraghans.

It was also during the reign of Shah Abbas[14] and his immediate successors that most of the so-called Ispahans were woven, though some of them appeared as early as the XV and some as late as the close of the XVII Century. As in the case with the Polish silk carpets, within recent years some difference of opinion has existed regarding the place of their manufacture. After careful research, Dr. Martin believes that they came from Herat and with this idea some other authorities concur. It is true that Herat belonged to the Persian Empire during the reign of the Safavid dynasty, and that even in the days of Shah Ismael magnificent carpets were woven there. It is also true that during the time of Tamasp and Abbas it was as important an art centre as Tabriz, and that the weaving of carpets was a leading industry there. Furthermore, there has not been found the same evidence to show that Ispahan was at this period an equally important centre of weaving. On the other hand, it is well known that the splendid industrial and art products of this period were largely due to the direct encouragement and favour of the court, and that the court was for most of the time at Ispahan. It is also known that skilled artisans were repeatedly removed from one district to another at the command of a sovereign, so that carpets of similar character might be woven contemporaneously in remote parts of Persia. It accordingly seems not improbable that the original type of these carpets was evolved at Herat and that many of them at least were made at Herat, but that others were also made at Ispahan. At any rate they were made to a great extent under the influence that emanated from Ispahan.