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Monday 1 December 2014

Doors of Jannah-Turkey and the Mediterranean




1-Kairouan





Saph carpets are furnishings for the House of God.

Perhaps the Saph form is older than the single niche prayer rug,having often been used in war and ceremonial tents.But the earliest representations are of single niche prayer rugs


2-Freer Art Gallery


The above,from a 14th century il-Khanid illustrated work,shows the Prophet seated upon a prayer rug.The word"Allah"can be made out in the niche.



The earliest depiction of a Saph can be seen in a 15th century Khamsa of Nizami


3-MET 1994.232.4



This index unfolds from the Middle East to the borders of China.

Most Saphs were woven sideways,on normal sized looms.Exceptions have been noted.The original number of panels cannot always be ascertained,as the fate of a Saph is to be cut into fragments and used for solitary prayer.



The Middle East.

Depictions of arcades appear in early Arab literature and painting


4-Kuwait,12th century



5-Al-Hariri,Maqamat,13th century


Only one Mamluke prayer rug has survived




6-Museum of Islamic Art,Berlin




Two Saphs attributed to Cairo include a rough-hewn example now in Chicago


7-Field Museum,Chicago



A related fragment was sold at Christies London in 2011 for $58,500


8-Christies 4 October 2011,lot 101



A prayer rug fragment from the Wher collection might once have formed part of an arcaded example


9




10




Turkey.

The oldest known Saphs are two fragments now in the Turk ve Islam Museum in Istanbul.A Holbein style carpet on blue-green ground features two rows of niches,thus effectively creating the first tiered-style.The niches are so schematic that they could also depict rows of tents


11



12-TIEM 744




The more elegant of the two incorporates all pious accessories found in later carpets,as well as introducing the "re-entrant" theme


13-TIEM 720


The lamps appear in another fragment from the Textile Museum,along with rosettes from the "Chessboard" group


14-Textile Museum R 34.00.2





Many fragments of genuine mosque fittings have survived.Three design types are said to have been made for the Selimiye mosque in Edirne.Whether contemporary or not cannot be confirmed,but they may well be late 16th or early 17th century


Group 1,Hatayi style

Many fragments exist with the floral arabesque design.They appear to be from one carpet featuring a niche-lamp and a medallion not unlike that seen on some Cairene prayer rugs


15-TIEM 474



16-TIEM 776




17-TIEM 804




18-TIEM 196



19-TIEM 479




A fragment once in the Michaelian Collection later passed to Harold Keshishian,and was auctioned twice,at Sothebys on December 13 1986 for $16,500;and again at Sothebys on 7 December 2010 for $62,500.It relates directly to the TIEM`s 196,sharing the same elongated Medallion


20



Group 2,White Rosettes style.

Distinguished by strewn white rosettes,a device borrowed from Iznik tile-work


21-TIEM 22




22-TIEM 54



23-TIEM 127




24-TIEM 139(4 panels)







25-TIEM 543



26-TIEM 774





27-TIEM 774





28-TIEM 777




Two very similar fragments were with Eskenazi and Thompson respectively


29-Eskenazi



The Jon Thompson fragment sold at his sale on 16 December 1993 for $43,700



30-Sothebys 1993






An impressive double-decker variant was once with Campana


31-Textile Museum Journal II-4-17




The Textile Museum also owns a "piece"


32



And a last part of the puzzle was published by Ledacs in 1977


33



Group 3 Chintamani style


At least three examples are known,presumably from the same ensemble,featuring symbolic position-markers at the base of the mihrab.Probably more are stored in Istanbul.




34-TIEM 465




35-TIEM 555-975




A third example was published by Ledacs in 1977.It is not clear where it belongs in the scheme of things


36




A coarser,more "industrial" quality is said to have lain in Istanbul`s Süleymaniye Mosque.Less courtly,it paves the way for a larger group of "Ushak" Saph carpets


An imposing two-tier item,sold twice at Lefevre`s in the 1970`s(the last on 5 October 1979,Lot 29,for 7500 pounds)eventually reached the Al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait


37





A second large piece is now in the Vakflar carpet Museum



38-Hali 168-91



A third item is in Chicago





39-Chicago,Finnerud Bequest




A related,perhaps earlier group from Edirne with feet and lamps has a more elegant spandrel decoration


40-TIEM 88



41-TIEM 337



42-TIEM 115


A two-tier piece in the possession of the Istanbul dealer S.Haim was published by C.G Ellis(Antique Rugs of the Near East,Bode-Kühnel,plate 28)


43





Offered three times in the London auction market"the property of a lady"first appeared at Christies on 9 June 1977,selling for £5000;it was offered,curiously,against a reserve of £ 600/1200 at Sothebys on 25 April 1979;before sinking at Sothebys on 23 April 1980 against an estimate of
£ 4000/6000.A seven panel model with elegant borders.



44-Sothebys 1977



Another example with lamps,pendants and Hatayi field was published by Stanley Reed,and what is possibly a closeup from the same carpet,in the Textile Museum Journal



45-Reed




46-TMJ 1973





A further three examples with lamps and feet have been published


47-Sülemaniye Mosque,Hali 168-90






48-Jacoby



49-Sothebys June 1989,Lot 116




A group of green ground Ushak saphs appeared on the market in the 1980`s, realistically dated to the 18th century.A piece from the Chris Alexander collection was auctioned at Christies in 2008 for $83,850



50-Christies 10 April 2008(106)



It seems to match up nicely to the two-tiered item in the Linden Museum Stuttgart



51-Linden Museum

Two large fragments were also acquired by the Swedish dealer J.P Willborg.The draughtsmanship of the niches and spandrels appear to originate from different sets



52


David Sorgato also published a similar item,probably from the same unidentified mosque


53-David Sorgato,Hali 






His colleague Alberto Levi featured another fragment on his website


54-Alberto Levi"as found"



Many fragments of the same have appeared down through the years



55




In a similar style,but with different treatment to mihrab and spandrels was a piece sold twice at Rippon Boswells,first on 17 November 2001 for $5,330;and again on 1 December 2007 for $28,225.A second very similar piece in two-tier
form was offered by the Indigo Gallery



56-Rippon Boswell;Indigo Gallery



One last item,for a special space (or minbar) features a stacked mihrab style and went unsold at Christies on 23 April 2013(80)



57-Christies 2013



Three further items from the Ushak zone segue into the 19th century


58-AAA 1914-109



59-AAA 1914-295



60-lilianrosso



The 19th Century.

Multi-tiered examples are more common from this time.These fulfilled a less functional,more decorative purpose



61-Sothebys 14 December 1995(211)



62-Nagels 9 November 1999(67)



63-Nagels 20 October 2006(24b)



Representative for a whole group of Ghiordes Saphs,often of mediocre quality,is a double-decker from the Sulimanye Mosque



64-Hali 168-92



A carpet from the collection of H.Keshishian is interesting for its inscription



65-



Pieces attributed to the Ushak zone include a carpet sold at Sothebys on 11 June 2008(29) for $11,250,although this may well be from the Mujur-Kirshehir triangle


66


Two fragments from Alberto Boralevi display an interesting colour change from row to row



67

68



As mentioned,Mudjur seems to have taken the lead in the 19th century and produced some beautifully coloured examples


69-Marchi




70-Vakflar Museum-Hali 178-11




71-Erol Kazanci




Long rugs with up to 12 panels are known




72-Phillips 25.April 1995

One group features a square in the Mihrab made up of multi-coloured triangles


73-Udo Langauer




74-Christies 8 October 2009-84



75-Christies 8 October 2019-81




76-Sothebys October 1990(654)


Very few carpets emanate the numinous quality of the Turkish Saph now lodged in the  Museum of Islamic Art,Berlin.A skeleton of well-ordered lazy-lines reveals the weaver`s perpendicular technique



77




The carpet has all the simple refinement of an Indian Dhurrie,and does in fact recall the Kilim style of old Karapinar,from whence it may hail



78-Berlin,ex Bernheimer,impossible to date




Conventional wisdom attributes it to Ushak(red wefts),but it is unlike any of the Ushak productions shown here.A second fragment,from the Haim Collection,is known only from photo,and features 6 full and two half niches.The Berlin museum also possesses a wonderful Karapinar kilim,the "Seven Sleepers"



79-Berlin,purchased 1919







Sunday 28 September 2014

On the Origin of the Herati Pattern

Considering its  widespread use,the Herati pattern has not received much scholarly attention.It appears suddenly at the beginning of the 19th century in an absolutely crystallised form,probably in Khorasan;an ultra-compact and dense Gestalt rarely seen in Persian carpet-making,which had always favoured more generous designs.

One group of carpets from the late 19th century,apparently produced in the Ferdaus/Qaen/Birjand area represent a last creative use of the Herati pattern and connects deftly to its progenitors.These “Baluch” style carpets(invariably on a blue ground) can be divided into two clusters,the first of which employs a large blown-up screenshot of the Herati pattern without serrated leaves


1-L-R:Tschebull,B.MacDonald,J.Homer






2-L-R:ebay,Sothebys 2008,Private Collection



In the second,more numerous group serrated leaves have been inserted,often in a clumsy way.The group is on the whole not so illustrious


3-L-R:ebay Gasparion;ebay DM;ebay oldandnewrugs

The borders on these rugs are derived from Indo Persian examples of the 17th century,much simplified


4-Jaipur





5-L-R:T.Hubbard;Davoud,Amsterdam;Koch Collection



Occasionally a palmette is added to the border system,and the ground colour may vary



6-Clockwise:Akif rugs;A.C Edwards;Anthony Fahmie;Peter Hansen



A final example,with arabesque borders,is a return to origin





7-Private Collection



The earliest carpets to use the Herati pattern are a distinguished group of large Kelleh.These frequently employ an arabesque border,”the turtle” of Edwards,and a distinct narrow yellow guard.The border concept seems to have been borrowed from a group of Polonaise carpets


8-MAK,Vienna



The wool is soft and shiny,the colours of impeccable quality.Extensive use is made of jufti knotting and the ground structure is all-cotton,with a classic three weft structure,often of blue cotton.The general impression is more of a thin and pliable textile than of a heavy carpet.The design concept was later transplanted to western Persia where it was adopted by Kurdish weavers,border and all.The creators of these early Herati Pattern carpets also wove rugs with the Harshang design,whose elements were drawn from a variety of Classical sources.It is likely that they consolidated this design as well,which appears in a perfected form at the same time.The Harshang was also taken to West Persia and penetrated into the Caucasus.Interestingly the Herati pattern never made much headway into Caucasian weaving until the late 19th century,most prominently amongst a group of Persianate style rugs attributed to Perepedil


9-Ulrich Schurmann




An equally early and elegant form of the Mina Khani design also appeared,featuring the three petal border.


A splendid example was published by Gans-Ruedin


10


At least two dated pieces are known


11-Sothebys 1983,dated 1806



12-Christies 1995,dated 1807


It must be said that the inwoven dates are hard to see.An often cited piece was at the Bernheimer Sale



13-Bernheimer



Once in the MAK,Vienna,but now lost


14-MAK



An example published by the London dealer Jekyll


15-Jekyll 2-24



A small fragment highlights the typical multi-plane spiral vine framework derived from classical sources,and the delicate coloured outlining


16





A distinguished weave


17





Heinrich Jacoby also published two border fragments,well knowing they were early pieces from Khorasan



18-Jacoby





A number of Khorasan carpets with Herati pattern entered the Victoria & Albert Museum in the 19th century


19-V&A 436-1884



Another V&A piece has a central medallion


20-V&A 256-1892



A further two items, on a rare white ground, feature medallions


21-Christies 1993



22-Christies 2003



Three carpets display a border with white petals,probably Indian-derived


23-Christies 2012



The following with an elaborate border which also appears in a Mina Khani field variation




24-Druot 1979




25-The V&A `s 437-1884


A last white-petal border carpet in the V&A also occurs on later Baluch rugs



26-V&A 300-1884



Two carpets are known with a square format(always supposing that they have not been cut)


27-WienerWerk



28-James Burns Collection




That these carpets,woven for Persian homes,were not suitable for everyday Western use is clear,and many have survived only in fragmentary condition


29-Bob Maurer;Bertram Frauenknecht;Private Collection



30-Patrick Pouler;Private Collection;Gene Dunford



A carpet in the V&A entered the Museum in 1927 in poor condition yet has an interesting combined Herati/Mina Khani design forming substrate medallions



31-V&A T65-1927



And a last kelleh format rug with standard border features an Indian type medallion lattice



32-MAK Vienna,now lost



Contemporary productions also included a group of exquisite Harshang design carpets,some of which are dated.They all feature Nastaliq inscribed verses from Sadi and Hafez


33-Bernheimer,dated 1808



34-Clockwise:Bausback;Bernheimer,dated 1813;Sothebys 2001+2012,dated 1718;Christies 2006


Mention has been made of the copies of the Khorasan carpets later executed in West Persia,chiefly amongst Kurdish weavers.These are generally easy to recognise



35-Christies 1980



An example in the V & A Museum is much more difficult to detect


36



Dated 1860-61,it entered the museum in 1880,so the dating is likely to be correct,and not simply copying.It is of very high quality,but the colouring is earthier,with less coloured outlining and a folksier approach


37-V&A 390-1880




The motif of a diamond lattice with rosettes and palmettes is a recurring feature in carpets of the 17th century.It is used extensively on Vase carpets as the integral bracket of a scrolling vine system





38-Sothebys 1969




Two carpets,perhaps from Khorasan,exhibit the nascent lattice rosette and leaf designs and also incorporate an arabesque split leaf,which was later carried over into the Caucasus to become what is known as the Avshan design.A heightened marshalling of design elements is apparent


39-Prinz von Schwarzenberg




40-Textile Gallery


Essentially a sickle-leaf design,the Herati can also be deduced from a carpet such as the Gulbenkian


41


Two Khorasan carpets seem to pave the way for the Herati design inception


42



The above described as North West Persian by Kurt Erdmann.The Avshan split arabesques are still present but a lot of pruning has taken place.Another item appeared at Christies in 2014


43



For comparison,an 18th century Caucasian carpet with the "Avshan "design




44-Sothebys 1993

Khorasan was always a clearinghouse for ideas coming from India.An Indian inspiration for the Herati is not inconceivable.With a little historical squinting the Altman Mughal carpet with its rosette-sickle leaf composition(a recurrent in Cairene carpets)might well have led the way


45-Altman Collection,MET



A Lahore carpet in the collection of the Duke of Buccleugh reveals more of the Herati`s underlying vine system



46

Another Lahore production is,shortly before conception,almost Ferahan-like



47-Benguiat sale 1932



And for design compression nothing can surpass a Millesfleurs carpet( the white petals of Safavid origin)




48-Ashmolean



Much maligned,the Herati pattern eventually led to a trivialisation of the oriental carpet.In the West it entered people´s consciousness through the medium of what Cecil Edwards termed  the"Gentlemen`s Carpet".Future generations grew up on its playingfields



49






The history of Iran can be read in its carpets.After the downfall of Isfahan in 1722 the old regime was finished.By the early 19th century a group of workshops in Khorasan  had developed the Herati,Harshang and Mina Khani patterns in a concerted effort,and a new era began.