Ashtapada by Hali Publications Limited

HPL

C A R P E T, T E X T I L E A N D I S L A M I C A R T

The Doha ‘ashtapada’ silk carpet; Inca and Colonial Andean tunics; Rugs in the Ankara Vakıflar museum; Goya tapestries; ICOC fair preview; Tsutsugaki at Fukuoka; The Rautenstrauch-Joest museum in Cologne; Tibetan rugs at the Rubin museum Issue 167 Spring 2011 UK £17 Europe £19 USA $36 Rest of the world £22 $42 www.hali.com

ashtapada

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

2 HALI ISSUE 167

MICHAEL FRANSES

The oldest securely dated complete silk pile carpet from the Muslim world,1 now in the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, is particularly significant in the history of oriental carpets. Its synthesis of patterns casts light on the extensive trade and cultural links across Asia and the Mediterranean region between 1350 and 1450 that enabled the diffusion of an ‘International Style’ of Islamic art familiar from Iberia to India. With reference to elements of this style the author questions the carpet world’s uncritical acceptance of a Persian or Central Asian origin for this apparently unique carpet and proposes on technical and art historical grounds that it is a likely product of a weaving atelier in one of the Islamic courts of the Deccan.

Photograph: Longevity, London

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SILK PILE CARPETS in the world 1, the Doha ‘Ashtapada’ carpet, was acquired by the Qatari National Council for Culture Arts and Heritage (NCCAH) in 1997. It has fresh vibrant colours, high silk pile, a superb artistic design and is in an outstanding state of preservation.2 It has been called the ‘Ashtapada’ carpet because of a unique design detail, the gaming board knotted into the pattern 52. Ashtapada (literally ‘eight-legged’ in Sanskrit) is the name given to an eight-square by eight-square Indian gaming board.3 It is also the name of an ancient Indian race game originally played on such a board, probably with dice. The modern chessboard can possibly be traced back to the ashtapada board.4 When this unique silk carpet was acquired in Kathmandu in 1988 by an American antiques dealer and his local partner, no other oriental carpet with this field design or with a gaming board knotted into the pattern was known or published. Although I prefer not to offer opinions without physical examination and scientific testing, prior to the carpet’s acquisition, my opinion was sought by the dealers in Nepal, based in the first instance on detailed black and white images sent to me by fax.5 I responded, with all the necessary caveats, that in my opinion the carpet was probably from the mid-15th century, made in India and based upon a Turkish or possibly a Spanish model. For while the exact leaf form in the field 2 could not be found on ceramics, stucco work, textile patterns or in manuscripts, the general pattern seemed somewhat similar to designs on 15th century Valencia armorial lustreware 3, in which we see

features such as the inversion of the leaf motif from row to row, and the spiral stem surrounding the leaves,6 which may have morphed into octagons when transposed into a woven design. I proposed that perhaps parts of the design were adapted from a 15th century Spanish carpet, as elements within the medallion and the primary Kufesque borders are to be found on Spanish wool carpets of similar date, as well as, more commonly, on Turkish examples. I was already aware of wool pile carpets made in India in the 15th century copying either Spanish or Turkish designs 48, 49, and a small group of 15th century Indian lampas silks, rediscovered in Tibet in the 1960s, also have patterns based upon Spanish originals, establishing that Spanish silk textiles had reached India by this time. Although my initial proposal as to the origin of parts of the pattern, as well as the Indian attribution, were firmly dismissed by the prospective purchasers, they nevertheless proceeded with the acquisition. The carpet’s American co-owner soon became convinced that it had been made in Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire. He further proposed that the carpet may have belonged to Timur himself (who was particularly fond of chess), and that the Emperor would have sat on the medallion to play the game. While no Samarkand carpets from this period are known to have survived, the attribution was based in the first instance on related Kufesque border designs on carpets depicted in Timurid period miniature paintings 4, 29. In 1996, not long after its first publication in Chess Monthly magazine, ‘Tamerlane’s Chessboard Carpet from Samarkand’ was

1 The ‘Ashtapada’ carpet, possibly the Deccan, south India, first half 15th century. Silk pile on a cotton foundation, 1.63 x 3.71m (5'4" x 12'2"). Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, CA.19.97

HALI ISSUE 167 3

INDIAN SILK CARPETS revealed to selected visitors at the 8th International Conference on Oriental Carpets in Philadelphia. A year later the carpet was sold by private treaty through Christie’s in London to the NCCAH. Most subsequent publications of the carpet have repeated the attribution to Timurid Central Asia. However romantic such extravagant claims may have been then – and they certainly appear even more so today – they do not diminish in any way the beauty and importance of this great work of art. But it is time to rethink the attribution through a detailed examination of many of the carpet’s particular features. First, the Timur/Samarkand question needs to be addressed. Timur was of Turko-Mongol origin, born in 1336 in Kesh (now Shahrisyabz), south of Samarkand. An indirect descendant of Genghis Khan and a fearsome warrior, from 1370 until his death in 1405 he ruled a vast empire won by bloody conquest.7 His armies attacked the very heart of Russia, reaching the gates of Moscow; he fought the Ottomans in Anatolia and the Mamluks in Syria; his forces went deep into northern India; and his name

aroused dread and fear throughout Europe. Yet Timur thought of himself as a compassionate man – when he conquered cities, the craftsmen and artisans were spared and sent to work for him in Samarkand, and all the arts flourished under his rule. Many miniature paintings of the period portray great rulers of the Islamic world seated upon carpets 29. Timur is shown several times, but we cannot be sure that any of these were painted from life. So although their patterns must reflect the style of the period, we do not know where the artists saw the original carpets. A Shiraz painting of 1436, from the Zafarnama of Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi, for example, depicts Timur celebrating the conquest of Delhi in 1398 5: the floral border in red against an orange ground is hard to read, and the tiny corner of field tantalisingly revealed beneath the bolster has glorious colours but is indecipherable.8 In any case, no known oriental paintings depict a carpet with a field like the Ashtapada carpet, nor a similar medallion or games board, although a variety of almost identical Kufesque primary border patterns can be seen in many

3 1

5 4 HALI ISSUE 167

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

2 Detail of the field

His Conquest of Delhi

carpets depicted in

pattern of the

in 1398 (detail), from

Timurid paintings,

Ashtapada carpet 1

the Zafarnama of

after Amy Briggs,

3 Leaf designs on

Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi,

1940

Spanish lustreware.

Shiraz, 1436. Harvard

9 Detail of the

After V. Van de Put,

University Art

medallion of the

Hispano-Moresque

Museums (Arthur

Ashtapada carpet and

Ware of the XV

M. Sackler Museum),

its surround 1

Century, London,

Cambridge, bequest

1904, pl.IIA, B

of the estate of Abby

4 Humayun Faints

Aldrich Rockefeller,

at the Sight of

1960.198

Humayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Portrait

6 A Tamerlane

(detail), Shiraz School

chessboard.

painting, dated 1420.

7 Detail of the field

Staatliche Museen,

design of the

Berlin, I.4628

Ashtapada carpet

5 Timur Celebrates

8 Field patterns of

9 HALI ISSUE 167 5

INDIAN SILK CARPETS oriental and European paintings. The medallion and these border patterns are very much part of a 15th century international style that can be seen on surviving carpets from Spain, Anatolia, Syria and Persia. The attribution to the orbit of the Timurid court lacks evidence to substantiate it, but is also extremely unlikely for other reasons. First, it would be most unusual for a great ruler to have a silk carpet made for himself – either as a gift or personal commission – from the loosely spun, lower-quality floss silk seen here. Much finer qualities of silk were readily available in Samarkand itself, and from Persia and China. Additionally, it is unlikely that a silk pile carpet would have been made for such an eminent patron on a cotton foundation with cotton fringes rather than a silk foundation with long silk fringes. Third, the quality of knotting is not particularly fine. Fourth, while we know that Timur played chess, it is most likely that this was on the more complex ‘Tamerlane chessboard’, which is eleven squares across and ten squares deep 6.9 And it would certainly be difficult to use upright chess pieces on a board such as this, created on a carpet with high pile. In the catalogue for an exhibition during the Doha Cultural Festival in 2004,10 Jon Thompson suggested that the carpet might have been woven either in Persia or Central Asia. He wrote: “In the past five hundred years Iran has had a complex and turbulent history ...as a result we know very little about the types of

carpets and textiles produced during the 15th century. There is, however, ample evidence from Persian paintings and from such written sources as do exist that valuable carpets and textiles were produced in plenty at this time, so it was a matter of great interest when this previously unknown carpet, apparently of 15th century date, came to light. The pile… is worked in silk, and the small-scale endless-repeat pattern of the field is based on the design of Chinese silk textiles of the 14th century. The central field is dominated by a large octagon containing a radial design with volutes. Similar designs are well known in 15th century Turkish carpets, often rather inexactly rendered as if copied from some earlier model. Thus questions arise as to where it was woven. It was not hitherto realized that carpets with octagons were also a Persian tradition, for they appear in paintings of the 14th century Jalayrid school of western Iran and survive in a few 15th century carpets of uncertain origin that are probably Persian.11 This appears to be the earliest surviving example of that tradition. Another feature that would support a Persian or Central Asian origin for this piece (apart from its typically Persian weave) is the way the border design is neatly turned through forty-five degrees at each corner, a feature almost invariably present in the carpets depicted in Persian paintings but which is extremely rare in surviving Turkish carpets. The presence of sixteen small squares laid out in the manner of a chess board has given rise to much speculation. Depictions of people playing chess are seen in Persian paintings and it is certainly possible that this feature of the carpet was designed for that purpose.” It is always preferable to rely on a combination of science and

10-12 Details of the medallion of the Ashtapada carpet 13 The Divri gi ˘

‘Domes and Squinches’ two-octagon carpet (detail), east (?) Anatolia, 14th century. 2.02 x 3.42m (6'8" x 11'3"). Vakıflar Carpet Museum, Istanbul, A-217 14 The Goldschmidt four-octagon ’large pattern Holbein’ carpet (detail), west Anatolia, second half 15th century. 2.00 x 4.30m (6'7" x 14'1"). Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, I.5526

6 HALI ISSUE 167

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 15 The Seyh Baba

16 Two-octagon

17 The Ballard

Santa Ursula flowers

Yusuf Mosque two-

carpet fragment

flowers in octagons

in octagons carpet

octagon with eight-

(detail), west Anatolia,

carpet (detail), Spain,

(detail), Alcaraz (?),

lobed flowers rug,

late 16th century. 1.42

15th century. 1.54 x

Spain, 15th century.

west Anatolia, 16th

x 0.88m (4'8" x 2'11").

2.74m (5'1" x 9'0").

1.03 x 2.50m (3'5"

century. 1.30 x 2.02m

Museum of Islamic

St Louis Art Museum,

x 8'2"). Museum of

(4'3" x 6'8"). TIEM,

Art, Berlin, KGM

122.1929

Islamic Art, Doha,

Istanbul, no.700

1904,77

18 The Convent of

Qatar, CA 24

18 HALI ISSUE 167 7

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

19 Detail of the border design of the Ashtapada carpet

19 8 HALI ISSUE 167

art history to assess the date of a carpet, as designs are traditional and were often copied over hundreds of years. In April 1991, samples from the carpet were sent for radiocarbon (C-14) testing at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology in Oxford, yielding a date range of 1315-1640. In April 1998, when the NCCAH sent the carpet to Longevity Conservation Studio in London for conservation, further samples of the warp threads were sent to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), who carried out two more C-14 tests which yielded almost identical results and provided a mean range of 1434-1623.12 These results (see Appendix) conform well to the 15th century dating suggested by art historical factors. Also in 1998, samples of the silk pile yarns were sent for dye analysis by solvent extraction, followed by absorption spectro-

photometry and thin-layer chromatography (TLC), at Textile Research in Archaeology, York. Their report showed that the navy blue is an indigotin, probably natural indigo; the gold and yellow are a non-flavonoid yellow dye, probably saffron; the chartreuse and medium green are both indigotin and curcumin (turmeric) mixtures; and the red is the insect dye lac (Kerria lacca). All these dyes are native to India and lac, turmeric and indigo have been identified in many Indian silk textiles in the past, while saffron is also known as a common Indian dye. Of course Indian dyes were widespread within the Islamic world, so this analysis does not preclude the possibility that they could have been used in a Central Asian or Persian carpet during a time of Islamic influence. It is interesting that Jon Thompson, writing in 2010 about what he describes as “the one surviving [15th century] carpet with Persianate features”, refers to the result of these dye tests as follows: “Two shades of green were found to have been double-dyed with indigo and curcumin, the latter most likely derived from turmeric. It is never wise to place too much weight on a single piece of evidence, but this finding raises important questions: maybe the place of this carpet in history needs a careful re-think.” A relatively small number of oriental carpets made in this period survive, but none have this octagonal lattice field pattern 2, that gives the impression of tile-work and can be viewed as a grid of 322 tiny, almost complete octagons (some hidden by the overlaid gaming board). In rows across the carpet are fivepetalled leaves, rather like harlequins’ caps, with the stem of each leaf curling round to form the octagonal grid and, together with the stem around the inverted harlequin leaf above, forming a geometricised ‘S’ shape 7. Between the rows of octagons, and offset diagonally, are symmetrical eight-petalled rosettes, with pairs of arrow-like extensions on each of the four axes. Jon Thompson suggests that the pattern may be based on Chinese silk textile designs of the 14th century, but I have examined many such textiles, both surviving silks and their depictions in Italian paintings, and have found no connection. Much of our understanding of the field patterns of 15th century court workshop carpets is derived from their depiction in paintings, whose value as evidence is limited. We cannot know whether the artist was looking at an actual carpet, and, if so, where it might have been made. The paintings do, however, give an idea of the importance of the carpets and of the popular designs that were then in use. Although many of the carpet patterns depicted in Amy Briggs’s oft-cited study of Timurid paintings have similar Kufesque borders to that of the Ashtapada carpet 26-28, 30, 47, none of the wide variety of lattices she shows 8 are at all like its field design.13 Timurid period court carpets were clearly very sophisticated and for the most part their lattices are highly complex, often incorporating interlace elements. Perhaps the closest, but still distant, comparison to the Ashtapada carpet is to be found in a Shiraz School painting of 1420 in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin 4, in which a simple lattice field of small interlocking octagons is surrounded by a knot-interlace border.14 Similar carpets can be seen in contemporaneous Indian miniature paintings. In the centre of the Ashtapada carpet is a square 9 containing an octagonal medallion as well as triangular motifs 10 in each corner which, if brought together, would form a diamond shape. These also appear on the Frauenknecht Indian carpet discussed below 49. The outer part of the square comprises a border composed of two different hooked ornaments, one set within a hexagon 11, flanked on both sides by a narrow dotted line in black and white, a design commonly found on kilims from Konya to Azerbaijan. A further narrow strip of field outlining the square and its border is left undecorated, allowing the whole unit to ‘float’ on a plain red background, whereas the lattice field apparently continues beneath the off-centre gaming board, giving the illusion that the board is laid on top of the lattice. Each side of the octagon has four trefoil-shaped protrusions outlined in yellow 12, as is the

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 20 Corner detail of the

late 15th century. 1.00

Verona, by Andrea

Divri gi ˘ ‘Domes and

x 1.87m (3'3" x 6'2").

Mantegna, ca. 1456-

Squinches’ two-

Museum of Turkish

60, Church of San

octagon carpet 13

and Islamic Arts,

Zeno Maggiore,

21 Corner detail of

Istanbul, 303

Verona. Courtesy

the Alaaddin Keykubad

22 Virgin and Child

Alinari/Bridgeman

Tomb ‘small-pattern

with Angels, central

Art Library

Holbein’ carpet frag-

panel from the Altar-

23 Corner detail of

ment, west Anatolia,

piece of St Zeno of

the Ashtapada carpet

23 HALI ISSUE 167 9

INDIAN SILK CARPETS large wheel-like pattern within the octagon. The white spokes that form the ‘cogs’ of the wheel are rather complex, with double hooks on each side and the central stem partially interlaced. The small extension that joins the cogs to the central octagon is turned 45 degrees, giving the illusion that the cogs are rotating. Within the wheel is a green octagon containing eight eightpointed stars. In the very centre a four-petalled rosette floats against the red background. Other carpets are known with similar medallion patterns, and may have one, two, three or even four large octagonal medallions in the central field, or multiple octagons in rows. In the rug literature similar carpets with large octagons have been called ‘large-pattern Holbein’ rugs.15 The oldest surviving rugs known with patterns of large octagons with interlacing and a wheellike motif in the centre were probably made in the 14th century: one is in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo,16 another in the Vakıflar Museum, Istanbul 13.17 Rugs with similar patterns, materials and structures continued to be made in the 15th and 16th centuries and are believed to have been woven in eastern Anatolia or northern Syria. These have been called ‘para-Mamluks’, a somewhat confusing label.18 At the time these lands were part of the Mamluk Empire,19 and while the origin of their patterns may not be part of a Mamluk tradition, it is likely that the carpets were made within the Empire by other peoples living under their dominance. A number of other carpets survive with octagonal medallions, often set in squares or rectangles, that are attributed to western Anatolia in the 15th and 16th centuries, including one in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin 14.20 The octagonal medallion design was also widely used in Spain in the 15th century, although the Iberian form appears to be directly taken from Anatolian originals and is almost invariably used in a rectangular grid with a large octagon in each panel 17.21 There are many pattern variations within the octagons. In some the spoke-like ornaments form a central interlaced star motif, in others there is a four-lobed rosette surrounded by a wide band with eight-pointed stars, with the spoke-like motifs surrounding this band. Some of the purest examples of the design survive in 15th century Spanish copies, in particular where these motifs form the spokes of the wheel: their stems turn at the base to give the impression that the wheel is rotating. One example, probably from Alcaraz, is the Convent of Santa Ursula carpet now in Doha (HALI 157, 2008, p.68), in which the illusion of rotation is accentuated by the interlaced band surrounding the central eight-pointed star 18.22 On many Anatolian examples, including a 16th century fragment in Berlin 16, the stem is twisted to create the rotational effect;23 on others, such as a carpet in the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul 15,24 the stem

is straight and the illusion of rotation is lost, for although similar motifs around the inside edge of the octagon do twist, they do not do so in a uniform direction, so there is no sense of movement. These octagon carpets were popular around the Mediterranean and are depicted in many European paintings. The primary border pattern of the Ashtapada carpet, known in the literature as “an open-Kufic border with large interlace” 19,25 is believed by some to be based upon a Persian model. Much is made of the fact that on Persian carpets the corner solutions in the primary borders are perfectly resolved. This feature is found on most surviving Persian carpets, and on many examples depicted in 14th and 15th century Persian paintings: the pattern wraps seamlessly from the end borders to the side borders, often turning onto the diagonal in the corners. On the vast majority of Anatolian carpets, on the other hand, the end and side borders are treated independently, with no allowance made for the pattern to turn, so it simply appears to run off either the ends or the sides. On the Ashtapada carpet the ‘Kufic’ border turns the corner 23. To every ‘rule’ there are exceptions. On a west Anatolian three-octagon ‘large pattern Holbein’ carpet in Doha 32,26 for example, a contrived motif is placed in each corner and no attempt is made to turn the pattern. A similar device is also found in the corners of the much earlier east Anatolian ‘Domes and Squinches’ carpet in the Vakıflar Carpet Museum, Istanbul 20.27 But far more pertinent here is a late 15th century west Anatolian ‘small pattern Holbein’ fragment in the TIEM that has another variation of the open Kufic border with a perfectly resolved corner solution 21.28 Many surviving Anatolian carpets do have properly conceived corners, but those with similar Kufesque border patterns to the Ashtapada carpet all have unresolved corner solutions, for instance two ‘small pattern Holbeins’ with rows of small medallions with interlacing – a fragmented example divided between the Bardini Museum, Florence 24, and the Keir Collection (now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin).29 Anatolian carpets with this field pattern and the same border as the Ashtapada carpet appear in European paintings from the mid-15th century onwards, most notably in Mantegna’s Madonna and Child altarpiece in San Zeno, Verona 22. The border is also similar to that on a 15th century Spanish ‘small-pattern Holbein’ carpet based on an Anatolian model 25, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is likely that this ‘Holbein’ field pattern with a tile-like arrangement and a profusion of interlaced knots originated in Persia. Carpets with similar field designs are depicted in Persian paintings of the early 15th century 29.30 Similarities can also be seen in the border patterns of many carpets in 14th and 15th century Persian paintings 26, 47,31 and the border was used in

24 The Florence small-pattern Holbein carpet, Anatolia, late 15th century. 2.02m (6'8") square. Bardini Foundation, Florence, 7865 25 The Boston Spanish ‘small-pattern Holbein’ carpet (detail), Alcaraz, 15th century. 2.06 x 4.62m (6'9" x 15'2"). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 39.614

10 HALI ISSUE 167

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 26 Humay in the

2a. Herat, 1488.

Palace of the Fairies

General Egyptian

Dimna of Nizamuddin

(detail), Humay u

Book Organization,

Abu’l-Ma’ali Nasrullah,

from the Kalila wa

Humayun copied for

Cairo, Adab Farsi 908

Herat, 1429. Topkapı

Baysunghur ibn

28 The Seduction of

Sarayi Library,

Shahrukh, f. 10b.

Yusuf (detail), Bustan

Istanbul, R.1022

Herat, 1427–8.

of Sa’di, f. 52b. Herat,

30 Nushaba Recog-

Nationalbibliothek,

1488. General Egypt-

nising Iskandar by his

Vienna, N.F.382

ian Book Organization,

Portrait, Khamsa of

27 A Party at the

Cairo, Adab Farsi 908

Nizami, f.244b. Herat,

Court of Sultan-

29 Baysunghur ibn

copied 1445-46.

Husayn Mirza (detail),

Shahrukh seated in a

Topkapı Sarayi Library,

Bustan of Sa’di, ff. 1b-

Garden (detail), folio

Istanbul, H.781

30 HALI ISSUE 167 11

INDIAN SILK CARPETS Herati painting throughout the 15th century 27, 28.32 However, it is not known where any such carpets were woven, and none are actually known to have survived. I have seen only one Timurid painting from Herat, copied in 1445-1446, that depicts a carpet with this Kufic and large knot interlace border and a small-scale floral field pattern 30.33 The interlaced border pattern is also seen on a ‘para-Mamluk’ niche rug, probably from Damascus, that survives in Iran 31.34 A rug with a similar border in which the field design appears to have compartments appears in Mantegna’s fresco for the Camera degli Sposi in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua: the field design appears to have compartments or may be similar to the three-octagon ‘Holbein’ carpet in Qatar 32 placed on its side. The same border is also found on carpets in Indian paintings. A Deccani anthology dated to the mid-1430s contains a number of depictions of carpets 33-39 very similar to those seen in Persian miniatures of around the same time.35 Of course, the carpets in the Indian paintings might be Persian (or those in the Persian paintings might be Indian, but that is less likely). The artist in India was either copying another painting (which might have been Persian) or he was looking at an actual carpet, which might have been made in India, or made in Persia and brought to India. Although the interlace in the large knots on the Ashtapada carpet is generally well conceived, errors occur in the outlining of the down-strokes and the lower baseline. It is possible that in earlier versions of this pattern the artists/craftsmen fully understood the scheme. The infill of the spaces within the knots in ivory and yellow may well have been copied directly from the model used by the weaver, as the same feature can be found on a few contemporaneous ‘Anatolian’ carpets depicted in Italian paintings 40-42.36 The placement of the patterns against a monochrome ground, allowing them to float free-and creating the illusion of multiple levels, is a device known from 14th, 15th and early 16th century Anatolian rugs, but which seems gradually to have become lost by the end of the 16th century. The design of the inner guard border, composed of two ‘S’ motifs side by side, not unlike a swastika 45, is fairly unusual but has been found both as a field pattern and in the borders on a few early Anatolian carpets. Udo Hirsch suggests that it may

well be derived from the Phrygian ‘SS’ symbol.37 An Anatolian carpet with this field design, acquired in Konya by Friedrich Sarre in 1908, was destroyed by fire in World War II 43.38 Sarre refers to much earlier Hittite monuments as the source for this pattern. A central Anatolian rug formerly in the Kirchheim Family Collection (now in Berlin), made in Konya in the 16th or 17th century, has a ‘kilim’ design in the central field and the double-‘S’ pattern in the border 44.39 However, the most cogent comparison with the minor border of the Ashtapada carpet 45 is the minor border 46 on the Frauenknecht Indian ‘Holbein’ rug discussed below 49,40 which is also created simply in black and white. The outer border of a continuous row of triangles, here in ivory outlined in blue, often appears as an outer border on early carpets, including a few of those depicted in Timurid paintings 47. Some forty years ago I noticed an illustration in a handbook of Indian carpet designs from the latter part of the 19th or early 20th century of what appeared to be an Anatolian ‘large pattern Holbein’ carpet from the second half of the 15th century.41 Upon closer inspection, however, several tiny features suggested the carpet had been made in India, almost certainly copied from a contemporaneous 15th century Anatolian original. In the early 1990s, a two-volume Japanese publication42 pictured many of the carpets and textiles preserved in Kyoto by the city guilds that represent certain streets or districts and each year decorate floats for the Gion Festival.43 Some of the works of art used date from as early as the mid-13th century. These include carpets from Mongolia and India, silk textiles from China and tapestries from the Netherlands, and among them is another Indian copy of a 15th century Anatolian ‘Holbein’ carpet 48.44 A number of design features on this Kyoto carpet are identical to those on Anatolian carpets: the serif ‘S’-band on a dark blue background that surrounds the octagon; the border with the meandering leaf stem and hook on a dark blue background; the surviving outer border with its string of inverting rhombuses in alternate colours. However, in the square-shaped central medallion, the four triangular corner pieces are filled with rows of small circles, which to date have only been observed on 15th century Spanish copies of Anatolian carpets, although this may be because no Anatolian originals

31 The Chihil Sutun ‘Para-Mamluk’ niche rug, north Syria or east Anatolia, second half 15th century. 1.05 x 1.41m (3'5" x 4'8"). Carpet Museum, Tehran 32 The Detroit threeoctagon rug (detail), west Anatolia, C-14 dated to 1473-1662. 1.78 x 2.85m (5'10" x 9'4") . Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

12 HALI ISSUE 167

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

33-39.Details of paint-

35 Iskandar Seated

Philosphers. Iqbal-

ings from a Deccani

at the Foot of Kay

nama, Iskandarnama,

anthology, south

Khusrauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Throne,

Khamsa of Nizami.

India, 1435-36

Receiving a Goblet

CBL Per 124I, f.279b

33 Iskandar and a

from a Servant,

38 Laila and Majnun

Maiden Embrace on a

Sharafnama, Iskandar-

at School. The Rom-

Throne in a Palace.

nama, Khamsa of

ance of Laila and

Sharafnama, Iskandar-

Nizami. CBL, Per

Majnun, Khamsa of

nama, Khamsa of

124I, f.232b

Amir Khusrau. CBL,

Nizami. Chester

36 Iskandar Talks to

Per 124II, f.89b

Beatty Library, Dublin,

a Maiden in the

39 Iskandar is Joined

Per 124I, f.257b

Temple of Qandahar

by his Wife and

34 Shirin and Khusrau

(detail). Iqbalnama,

Mother-in-Law at his

Sitting in a Park. The

Iskandarnama,

Tent. Sharafnama,

Book of Shirin and

Khamsa of Nizami

Iskandarnama,

Khusrau, Khamsa of

CBL, Per 124I, f.291a.

Khamsa of Nizami.

Amir Khusrau. CBL,

37 Iskandar Seated

CBL, Dublin, Per 124I,

Per 124II, f.44b

on a Carpet with Two

f.220b

39 HALI ISSUE 167 13

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

40 Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Saints (detail). Ghirlandaio, 1483. Uffizi Gallery, Florence 41 St Mark Enthroned with Saints (detail). Giovanni da Udine, 1520. Udine Cathedral 42 Saint Antoninus (detail). Lorenzo Lotto, 1542. Chiesa dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

with this feature have survived. The central star made up of tiny hexagons does not correspond to any known Spanish or Anatolian originals, but the rope-like inner border can be seen on certain European textiles and tapestries as well as on Indian – but not on Anatolian or Persian – carpets and textiles. Nobuko Kajitani, former head of textile conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has confirmed that the wool and weave of the Kyoto carpet are both unmistakeably Indian.45 In 1999, Bertram Frauenknecht exhibited another fragmented example of this design type with unmistakeably Indian wool and colours 49, which in 2006 was published by Jon Thompson as “possibly Indian”.46 It is interesting that the twisted tails on the spokes within the octagons show the rotational effect discussed above, and the carpet has a similar triangular device in each of the corners of the square surrounding the central octagon. On both carpets the hypotenuse of these triangular devices is serrated while the short sides are straight and undecorated, and the motif is filled with a colourful ziz-zag pattern. On the Divrigi ‘Domes and Squinches’ carpet 20,the hypotenuse is flat and the sides are serrated, with the zig-zags split into individual sections; the same is true of the ‘Syrian’ Chihil Sultan rug 31 and the western Anatolian three-octagon carpet in Qatar 32. The latter arrangement is much more familiar from Anatolian carpets, while the scheme seen on the two Indian carpets allows the interstices design 10 to work far better when it is extended outwards, thus endorsing the concept that one is viewing only one of many medallions. It is likely that the Ashtapada and Frauenknecht carpets were made in the same region. On careful examination one can see the extremely close similarity in design of the black and white minor border, which is not found as a minor border pattern on other rugs. The Frauenknecht carpet also has very similar colouration to the Ashtapada carpet. The first publication of the Ashtapada carpet permitted by its former owners was in a 1996 article by the British chess historian Ken Whyld47 for the magazine Chess Monthly. He wrote: “The board is a little over 30cm square. The design ... still conceals a few mysteries from its colours and markings, but its main function is clear... The chessboard presents the chess historian with new features...

Unchequered boards are still common in Asia, and so are boards with the mysterious cross markings on specific squares. Nobody has been able to give a conclusive explanation for these, but the most popular theories are that they are the legacy of a race game played on the same board, and that the marked squares were either where the player entered pieces, or where the pieces were safe from the opponent’s attention. The colouring pattern is unique to this board, and I can offer only a suggestion. Because the playing surface was woven into a carpet it could not be exchanged for another, and so perhaps it had to serve for many different types of games... The yellow outer frame of 28 squares might have been used for a race game, but on the other hand the colouring might simply be to separate the central 36 squares for use in some other game. As a chess player Timur is perhaps best remembered for his enthusiasm for a form of game played on a larger board of 112 squares, but it seems likely that his everyday chess was on the standard 64-square board. If this carpet did belong to Timur, it would be singularly appropriate.” More recent research suggests that the board on the carpet is of Indian origin. There are several sources in Vedic and Sanskrit literature, some as early as the 4th century BC, and in the religious writings of Buddhists and Jains in India, referring to ashtapada as both a gaming board and a form of unspecified board game.48 According to some experts, by the 7th century references to ashtapada clearly signify a type of ancient chess game with specific pieces on an 8 x 8 board. The game then appears to have died out, but the term continued in use to describe boards used for other games, including varieties of chess until, by the 10th century, the name also seems to have fallen out of use. Suggestions for what an ashtapada board looked like can be found in the literature 50,49 but according to Dr Irving Finkel at the British Museum, who is currently completing The Indian Board Game Survey with the Anthropological Survey of India, no original ashtapada boards survive. A variety of traditional 8 x 8 Indian game boards do exist in which a certain number of squares are distinguished by cross-cuts 51. Such cross-cut squares are remnants of a much earlier board game where squares of this kind presumably played a significant role in the play of the game.50 As a game, ashtapada was probably also the ancestor of other

42 14 HALI

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 43 Konya rug, central

48 The Gion Matsuri

Anatolia, 15th or 16th

‘Holbein-style’ carpet

century. 1.16 x 1.92m

fragment (detail),

(3'10" x 6'4"). Formerly

India, 15th century.

Museum of Islamic

1.23 x 1.70m (4'0" x

Art, Berlin, I.946,

5'7"). Gion Matsuri

destroyed in World

Kita-Kannon-yama

War II

Preservation Associ-

44 Swastika carpet

ation, Kyoto, Japan

fragment (detail),

49 The Frauenknecht

Konya, 16th or

‘Holbein-style’ carpet

17th century. 1.05 x

fragment (detail),

0.87m (3'5" x 2'10").

India, 15th century.

Museum of Islamic

Private collection.

Art, Berlin, 1999/01

Courtesy Bertram

45 Detail of the inner

Frauenknecht, Fürth

guard border of the Ashtapada carpet 1 46 Detail of the border of the ‘Holbein-style’ Indian rug 49 47 Tahmina Enters Rustam’s Chamber, Herat, ca. 1434–40. Harvard University Art Museums (Arthur M. Sackler Museum), Cambridge, MA, 43

1939.225

49 HALI ISSUE 167 15

INDIAN SILK CARPETS popular Indian race games such as chaupur and, eventually, pachisi,51 variations of which were also played from Spain to China, in particular in the Arab world,52 and has continued to be popular in India to this day 53, 54. Rangachar Vasantha has carefully described how board games such as pachisi or chaupar were played in Hampi in the Bahmanid Sultanate in central southern India in the 14th to 16th centuries, and illustrates an 8 x 8 grid, found in the “Virupaksha temple, perhaps used as chessboard. Four sides are carved with beautiful f loral design... According to local say (by elders), only the king or his officials played this chaturangam game.”53 Ancient board games were not confined to India and similar – but not 8 x 8 – boards have been found in other eastern regions, for instance carved on the floor in the Longmen cavetemples south of Luoyang in China’s Henan Province. Most of these were made between the later years of Northern Wei era (386-534 AD) and the middle of the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). Six different boards were identified, but none of these were 8 x 8 squares.54 In southeast Turfan in Xinjiang, a 7 x 7 board was unearthed with a cross in the middle that resembles an Indian chessboard.55 A similar 7 x 7 board was discovered scratched into the marble throne in the courtyard of the Shah-i Zinda necropolis in Samarkand. Although no other rug has as yet been identified with a square gaming board incorporated into its design, an Indian rug in the storage of the Palace Museum in Beijing depicts a cross-shaped pachisi board 56.56 The field of the Beijing pachisi rug has a pattern of flowers, leaves and stems in shades of red. A Timurid painting 30 depicts a carpet with a similar, apparently random floral design. The ‘free-floating’ black and white dotted border surrounding the central field and the corner piece of the rug may suggest an early date, perhaps 15th to 17th century. Looking at its cotton warps in particular, the Beijing rug appears to have a typically Indian structure 57, and may have been made in the Deccan. Few Indian carpets survive that can be attributed with any certainty to before 1600, and all of them come from northern India. However, closer examination of tile patterns from 15th century central India may show that some have similar patterns to carpets, or indeed be the only surviving representations of lost carpet designs. One particular tile in the Divan-i’amm at Bidar, with a floral design in the field 55,57 has a very similar border design to the Beijing rug. The silk used for the Ashtapada carpet is not of the finest quality used in Timurid Persia and Mongol Central Asia, but a coarser floss silk commonly found in India. Its structure is even more revealing. On the sides two heavy cotton cords are placed side by side, the inner secured by the wefts, the outer by

magenta silk overcasting. This type of side finish is typical of India. The end finish is also very particular: the cotton warps are tied together with a kilim-like brocade in silk about 8mm wide, composed of a yellow line, two light-blue lines, a wide central band in red and white interlocked, followed by a yellow line and two lines in light-blue. The warp ends are tied together with small balls of silk, in yellow, blue, red, ivory and other colours 58, a feature found on many Indian textiles, but not on Persian carpets or textiles. There is now little doubt as to when the Ashtapada carpet was made: the combination of stylistic and scientific evidence points to a date sometime between 1400 and 1450. It is my hope that I have also shed some light here on where it was made. Based on the combination of available evidence, I believe that this carpet was made in India: design similarities to the Frauenknecht and Gion rugs; the particular hues and dyes used; the specific end finish and selvedge; the use of floss silk; and the presence of the gaming board. Any one of these (except perhaps the end braiding) might not be conclusive, but when we examined the carpet together in Doha in 2008, Louise Mackie, Curator of Textiles and Islamic Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, concurred that the end finish and selvedge were typically Indian and not seen elsewhere. Although I have examined thousands of Indian carpets and textiles, I have never been to India and have only scant knowledge of the eccentricities of weave and pattern that occur from region to region. However, in my experience, this carpet cannot be related to pieces from northern or eastern India. Some similarities do exist that may connect it with some later 16th to 18th century carpets from Hyderabad, as well as some later 19th century carpets attributed to Warangal in the Deccan. This may indicate that the carpet was made in the Kingdom of Golconda or in Bidar (Muhammadabad), which in the 15th century was part of the Bahmanid Sultanate (1347-1527), the first independent Islamic kingdom in central and southern India.58 The Bahmanid elite consisted of mainly Iranian and Turkic migrants from northern India, with strong cultural and linguistic links to Persia that to a large extent shaped the Sultanate’s destiny.59 Based upon a date in the first half of the 15th century for this carpet we may be looking at the reign of Ahmad Shah I Wali (1422-1436), a great patron of the arts who brought in many skilled craftsmen from Iran. This article is not intended to be the last word on the subject. Hopefully, scholars with far greater experience of Indian textile art such as Rosemary Crill, Steven Cohen, Rahul Jain, Jeff Spurr and others, will examine this wonderful carpet and point to what they believe to be its true place of origin.

50 Diagram of an ashtapada board 51 Traditional 8 x 8 ashtapada board, India, ca. 1900. Glass beads on cloth. British Museum, London, 1995,1013.1 52 Detail of the games board on the Ashtapada carpet 1

50 16 HALI ISSUE 167

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 53 Four Men Playing

Museum, Beijing,

Pachisi. William

212520

Carpenter, Mandhata,

57 Detail of the

1851. Victoria & Albert

corner of the Beijing

Museum, London,

Pachisi rug

IS 116-1881

58 Detail of the

54 Royal figure play-

end finish of the

ing chaupar (detail),

Ashtapada carpet 1

Kulu, India, ca. 1775. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, IS.123-1954 55 Design of a tile panel in the Divaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;amm at Bidar 56 The Beijing Pachisi rug, the Deccan (?), south India, 16th18th century. Palace

HALI ISSUE 167 17

INDIAN SILK CARPETS APPENDICES

Acknowledgements

Ends: 6mm fine twining in silk,

cannot be distinguished from

and tentatively ascribed to Central

My thanks to: Hussain al-Rajef,

warps tied in bundles, covered in

synthetic indigo, but, in this case,

Asia in the 13th-17th centuries,

formerly of the NCCAH, Doha;

silk yarn to form tassels. Bottom

where there are other natural

also proved to be dyed with

Dr Oliver Watson, Mona al-Saie

6mm balanced interlacing with

dyes, lac and turmeric present, it

indigo, turmeric and lac (see TRA

and Kostas Hatziantoniou of the

magenta silk.

is probable that the indigotin also

report, by G.W. Taylor, 27 January

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

Colours: (10) white, brown, gold,

comes from a natural source: one

1992). Indian dyes were wide-

Nicholas Waterhouse and Carole

yellow, 3 blues, mid-green,

of the indigo plants, such as

spread within the Islamic world

Bellon of Longevity Conservation

chartreuse, magenta.

Indigofera tinctoria, is the most

and may well have been used in a

Studio, for the photographs of the

Handle: Heavy, supple, floppy.

likely dye source in an Asian

Central Asian carpet during a

carpet; Rosalind Bishop, senior

Condition: Substrate exposed in

context. Lac is derived from the

period of Islamic influence”.

conservator at the time, who

many places [on the surface].

scale insect, Kerria lacca Kerr,

washed the carpet, and supervised

A few medium sized holes, largest

which originates in the Indian

the conservation work; Alex Thom-

7.2cm. A slit the entire width of

subcontinent. Turmeric is a direct

HALI 89, 1996, p.137 (detail); Ken

pson, who conserved the carpet

the carpet.

yellow dye, derived from the

Whyld, ‘The Magic Carpet’, in

rhizome of the plant Curcuma

Chess Monthly, 61/8, 1996, pp.46-

analysis. Penelope Walton Rogers

Carbon-14 Dating

domestica Val. (formerly Curcuma

7; Ernst J. Grube, ‘The World is a

for the dye analysis; Dr Georges

1) Research Laboratory for

longa). The plant is a native of

Garden. The Decorative Arts of the

Bonani, who carried out the lastC-

Archaeology and the History of

India, but has also been cultivated

Timurid Period’, in Jill Tilden, ed.,

14 tests. Stefan Weber and Anna

Art, Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit,

in southeast Asia. Tumeric was

First Under Heaven: Hali Annual 4,

Beselin, for supplying images and

University of Oxford, 30 April

used in combination with indigo

London 1997, p.22, fig.26 (detail);

information from the Berlin

1991, Dr Clare Anglias. OxA-3124:

for both greens. The ratio of the

Robert Pinner, with Steven Cohen,

collection; Rosemary Crill, for

445 ± 70 years BP = (68% confi-

yellow dye to the blue varied,

Jacqueline Simcox and Daniel

locating images of pachisi boards;

dence limit) AD 1405-1620; (95%

indigo dominating in the mid-

Shaffer, ‘Work in Progress 1988-

Dr Irving Finkel for his expert

confidence limit) AD 1315-1640.

green and turmeric in the

1998’, HALI 100, 1998, p.81 (detail);

advice on ancient Indian board

2) ETH, Swiss Federal Institute of

chartreuse. The yellow and gold

Jon Thompson, Silk, 13th to 18th

games. Dr Elaine Wright, Jill Unkel

Technology, Zurich, Dr Georges

samples have been dyed with the

Centuries, Treasures from the

and Francesca Galloway for their

Bonani. Test 1, 28 July 1998, ETH-

same dye, but it is difficult to be

Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar,

help with Indian paintings; Alberto

18867: 445 ± 55 years BP. Test 2,

sure of its identification. It does

Doha 2004, pp.88–89; Jon

and carried out the structure

Boralevi for his help with Italian

11 November 1998, ETH-19092:

not behave like a flavonoid (which

Thompson, Milestones in the

paintings; Nahla Nassar and

400 ± 40 years BP. Combined

excludes weld, greenweed, Persian

History of Carpets, Milan, 2006,

Michael Rogers of the Khalili

mean: 415 ± 30 years BP = (95%

berries, etc.); tannins were not

p.145, fig.31 (detail); Jon Thomp-

Study Centre in London for their

confidence limit) AD 1434-1518

detected in any great quantity,

son, ‘Carpets in the Fifteenth Cen-

help with Persian paintings. Zhu

(85.7%); AD 1582-1623 (14.3%).

which rules out dyewoods; and

tury’, in Jon Thompson, Daniel

the dye is not turmeric, it does not

Shaffer and Pirjetta Mildh, eds.,

Dye Tests

respond to the reagents used for

Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian

Chengru, former Deputy Director of the Palace Museum, Beijing, who gave permission for me to

While the carpet was at Longevity

TLC of yellow dyes. The circum-

World 1400-1700, Oxford & Genoa

examine carpets in the museum

Conservation Studio in London

stantial evidence is not enough to

2010, p.30, fig.1.

storage; Yuan Hongqi and Liu

samples of the pile were removed

give a secure identification,

Baojian, the curators of carpets

and given to Penelope Walton

although saffron seems to be the

Exhibited

at the Palace Museum. Dr

Rogers of Textile Research in

most likely candidate at present.

Philadelphia, 8th International

Alessandro Bruschettini, John

Archaeology, York, for dye analysis.

The saffron crocus, Crocus

Conference on Oriental Carpets,

Eskenazi, Ben Evans, Nobuko

Her report, dated 12 August 1998,

sativus, is grown in southern

Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel, 31 October 4 November 1996; Doha,

Kajitani, Sumru Krody and Louise

states: “Ten samples of vividly

Europe, Turkey, Iran, India and

Mackie for their useful advice and

coloured silk yarn from a Central

north Africa. Applied to an Alim

Sheraton Doha Hotel, Silk and Ivory,

support. Rupert Waterhouse and

Asian carpet were provided for

mordant, the stamens give an

8th to 18th Centuries, Treasures

Daniel Shaffer for their tireless

dye analysis. Six were selected for

orangey yellow, comparable with

from the Museum of Islamic Art,

editorial work and suggestions.

analysis; the black, two of the

the yarn samples analysed here.

Qatar, Doha Cultural Festival, 28th

three blues and the white were

Comment: All the dyes listed

February to 24th March 2004.

Structure Analysis

not tested. Analysis was by

above are native to India, and lac,

by Alex Thompson, 1998

solvent extraction, followed by

turmeric and indigo have been

Notes

Warp: cotton, off white,

absorption spectrophotometry and

identified in many Indian silk

1 The oldest record of a silk pile

Z10S, 51/dm, no depression.

thin-layer chromatography (TLC).

textiles in the past (see, for

carpet appears in a Chinese poem

Weft: cotton, beige, originally

Results: Navy blue = indigotin

example, the sale catalogue of

by Bai Juyi (772-846

orange, Z singles, 8 yarns

(probably indigo, or woad or knot-

Spink and Son Ltd, The Art of

order made by the Tang dynasty

used together, 2 sheds/ weft

weed); Gold = non-flavonoid yellow

Textiles, 1989, pp.163-4); saffron

Zhenyuan Emperor (785-804) for a

break, 28/dm

dye (see below); Chartreuse =

has also been listed as one of the

silk pile palace carpet over100 ft

indigotin + curcumin (indigo =

common Indian dyes by several

wide. A unique carpet fragment

(ca. 45/in ), AS open left.

turmeric); Medium green =

authors. We have examined a few

carbon-dated to 680-960

Sides: Attached overcast selvedge

indigotin + curcumin (indigo =

textiles confidently identified as

recently been discovered; it has a

in magenta silk over two warp

turmeric); Red = laccacid acids

Central Asia, but one set of

pattern of horses and figures

units, both of heavy cord, one

(lac, Kerria lacca); Yellow = non-

samples sent to us by The Textile

against a red ground, is knotted in

integral to the carpet (secured by

flavonoid yellow dye (see below).

Gallery [ref. 15530], from a carpet

silk and wool and measures 70 x

the wefts), the other free floating.

Indigotin from natural sources

described as ‘Tiger in Octagon’,

111cm. An incomplete knotted silk

Knot: silk, single (?), 700/dm

18 HALI ISSUE 167

Published

AD)

about an

has

INDIAN SILK CARPETS pile carpet in the Textile Museum,

Shiraz, 1436. Harvard University

and another. In almost all instances,

Berlin, 1965. (2) The Chihil Sutun

Washington

Art Museums (Arthur M. Sackler

the scientific results have corres-

Para-Mamluk Niche Rug with Kufic

animals and a Kufesque border on

Museum), Cambridge, bequest of

ponded with the ages predicted

Inscription. 105 x 141cm. Carpet

a gold ground, measuring 35 x

the estate of Abby Aldrich Rocke-

using art historical factors.

Museum, Tehran. Formerly: Chihil

70cm, is thought to be from Iraq

feller, inv.no.1960. 198. Published:

13 Briggs, 1940.

Sutun Kiosk, Esfahan. Published:

or North Africa and has been

Washington DC 1989, p.105, no.30.

14 Humayun Faints at the Sight of

Erdmann, 1966, pp.87-93; Ellis,

dated by some authorities to

9 http://filer.case.edu/org/cwrums/

Humay’s Portrait, Shiraz School,

1967, pp.2-20; Gans-Ruedin, 1978,

before the 15th century, although

games/tamerlane.html: “[Tamerlane

dated 1420. Staatliche Museen,

pp.144-5; Mills, 1997, p.72, fig.1;

this has not yet been confirmed

chess] is possibly the most complex

Berlin. Published: Pope, 1938-39,

Franses, 1999, p.50, fig.31;

by scientific tests.

variant of Shatranj (“chess’) ever

pl.864.

Thompson, 2006, p.137, fig.116.

2 I wish to extend my deep

made. It is included in the family

15 The term is used because the

Notes: Inscription reads “Hasten

gratitude to the NCCAH for

called Shatranj Kamil and Shatranj

German artist Hans Holbein the

to repent before death”. (3) The

entrusting the carpet to me for

al-Kabir but easily stands out on

Younger (1497-1543) depicted a

Williams four- and-one octagons

conservation and detailed study.

its own. It was very popular in

significant number of them in his

Para-Mamluk Rug. 125 x 178cm.

The carpet was sent to Longevity

Persia and other lands and was

paintings. One group of these

Philadelphia Museum of Art,

Conservation Studio in London in

said to have been invented by the

carpets have a field design com-

inv.no.55-65-2. Formerly: Joseph

April 1998 on the instructions of

chess master Timur himself. Tamer-

posed of one to five large octa-

Lees Williams Memorial Collec-

Hussain al-Rajef, then Director of

lane chess is played on a 10-by-11

gons, often placed in squares,

tion, Philadelphia. Published: New

the Museum of Islamic Art. The

board as well as two citadels, one

known as ‘large-pattern Holbein’; a

York, 1910, p.11, no.8; Erdmann,

carpet was washed, fully conser-

to the left of the ninth row, the

second group have a field design

1930, fig.8; Erdmann, 1961, fig.33;

DC,

with a design of

ved and sewn to a mounting

other to the right of the second

composed of offset rows of inter-

Ellis, 1963, fig.2; Ellis, 1967, p.19,

cloth. C-14 tests were arranged

row.” See http://history.chess.free.

laced medallions alternating with

note 33 (cited); Metropolitan

and a full structure analysis

fr/tamerlane.htm: “According to

diamond-shaped medallions, known

Museum of Art, 1973, fig.15; Ellis,

undertaken, and the carpet was

his biographer, [Timur] loved to

as ‘small-pattern Holbein’.

1978, p.32, fig.7; Atil, 1980, p.312,

returned to Qatar on completion

play chess and, precisely, he

16 The Cairo two-octagon carpet.

ill. 178; Pinner and Franses, 1981,

of the conservation work in

preferred to play Shatranj al-kabîr,

Anatolia, 14th century. Museum

p.41 (cited); London, 1983, p.66,

December 1998.

‘great Chess’, rather than Shatranj

of Islamic Art, Cairo. Published:

no.28; Black, 1985, p.52, fig.6b;

3 The term ashtapada was also

ash-shaghîr, the ordinary ‘small’

Moustapha, 1949; Thompson,

Pinner, 1986, p.6, fig.9; Philadel-

used to describe a legendary

Chess.” For further information

2006, pp.39, 146, 148, figs.136,

phia Museum of Art, 1988, pp.4-7,

being with eight legs and a type

see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

142.

pl.1; Völker, 2004, p.16; Thompson,

of spider.

Tamerlane_chess, http://filer.case.

17 The Divrig˘ i ‘Domes and

2006, p.138, fig.117. Exhibited:

4 As Peter Stoneman points out,

edu/org/cwrums/games/shatranj.

Squinches’ two-octagon carpet.

New York, 1910; London, 1983.

there are conflicting stories about

html, http://www.chessvariants.

Anatolia, 14th century. 202 x

(4) The Dresden Para-Mamluk

the origins of chess: ‘Several

com/historic.dir/tamerlane.html.

342cm, incomplete. Vakıflar

octagons rug. 44.5 x 40.5cm,

unsubstantiated hypotheses

10 Doha, 2004, p.82. I was invited

Museum, Istanbul, inv.no.A-217.

circular fragment. Kunstgewerbe

placed the date of the invention of

to curate two exhibitions, Silk and

Formerly: Ulu Mosque, Divrig˘ i.

Museum, Dresden, inv.no.343.

chess far earlier than can be

Ivory, for the Doha Cultural Festival

Published: Ellis, 1967; Vakıflar

Published: Lessing, 1887; HALI

supported by historic evidence.

from 28 February to 24 March

Museum, 1988, pp.40-45, 9, 180-

71, 1993, p.106, fig.1; Ellis, 1997,

According to one tale, the game

2004; I selected the Silk exhibits

1, pl.2 (with structure analysis:

p.76, fig.8 (with structure analysis,

and invited Jon Thompson to write

Warp Z2S, wool, ivory. Weft Z,

as ‘symmetrically knotted’); Thom-

the catalogue.

wool, light red, 2 shoots, 1

pson, 2006, p.139, fig.120. Exhib-

There are also unsubstantiated

11 I refer to the so-called ‘para-

straight, 2 wavy. Knots 2Z, Sy 2,

ited: Hamburg, 7th ICOC, 1993.

stories pushing the date of chess

Mamluk’ carpets, a term coined

V 31 x H 28, = 868 knots/sq.dm.

19 The Mamluk Empire, which

as far back as 3,000 years ago,

by Charles Grant Ellis that may be

Sides and ends missing); Phila-

began with the Bahri Dynasty in

based on archeological discoveries

on its way out. In a forthcoming

delphia Museum of Art, 1988, p.9,

1250, ruled from Cairo, Damascus

in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India.’

publication I shall propose a

fig.2a; Eskenazi, 1986; Franses

and Aleppo. To the east was the

See http://webspace.webring.com

reappraisal, contrary to current

and Bennett, 1988, p.37; Ölçer,

Ilkhanid Mongol Empire of Persia

of chess was invented about 1000 BC

by an Indian mathematician...

/people/bc/captain_peter_anthony_

thinking, along the lines that these

et al, 1996, pp.46-7, pl.31 (with

and the western part of Anatolia

stonemann/chess.htm

carpets belong to a Persian tradition

detail); Thompson 2006, p.39,

was to be ruled by the Ottomans.

5 These images were also shown

older than the Mamluk carpets,

fig.2, pp.146-7, figs.137-8; Denny

20 The Goldschmidt four-octagon

to John Eskenazi, who concurred

and that it was this production

2010, p.60, fig.2.

carpet. Western Anatolia, second

with my opinion.

that provided a source for the

18 Some ‘para-Mamluk’ carpets

half 15th century. 200 x 430cm.

6 See Van de Put, 1904, pl.II A, B.

vocabulary of ornament of Mamluk

with octagon designs, northern

Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin,

7 Timur’s empire included eastern

carpets rather than the other way

Syria or eastern Anatolia, second

inv.no.I.5526. Formerly: Art trade,

Anatolia, the Crimea, Georgia,

round.

half of the 15th century: (1) The

Paris, 1928; Jacob Goldschmidt.

Armenia, eastern Syria and Iraq in

12 During the past 25 years

Bernheimer 4-and-1 octagons Para-

Published: Kühnel, 1930, fig.1;

the west, the whole of present-

Longevity Conservation Studio has

Mamluk Carpet. 112 x 116cm,

Erdmann, 1931, pp.95ff., fig.6;

day Iran, all of the Caucasus and

submitted more than 500 samples

incomplete. Museum of Islamic

Staatliche Museen, 1935, no.29;

the lands that surround the Caspian

for C-14 testing to laboratories all

Art, Berlin, inv.no.I.33/60. Formerly:

Bode and Kühnel, 1955, p.31,

Sea apart from the northern shores,

over the world. In each case, no

Bernheimer Collection, Munich.

fig.16; Heinz, 1956, fig.1; Zaki,

present-day Uzbekistan and parts

indication was given to labora-

Published: Bernheimer, 1959,

1956, fig.689; Bode and Kühnel,

of southern Kirghizistan, the whole

tories as to the perceived date in

fig.2; Ellis, 1963, figs.1, 3, 5; Ellis,

1958, p.36, fig.16; Erdmann, 1960,

of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,

advance of the test. Samples

1967, p.19, note 33 (cited);

fig.36 (detail); Schlosser, 1960,

Tajikistan and the eastern part of

extracted from the same textile

Erdmann, 1970, p.154, fig.198;

fig.9 (detail); Milhofer, 1962,

Xinjiang, Afghanistan, Baluchistan

have often been sent to two or

Museum of Islamic Art, 1988,

fig.19; Ellis, 1963, p.7, fig.7;

and the major part of Pakistan.

more different laboratories, to act

pp.67 and 217, pl.74; Pinner and

Erdmann, 1963; Munich, 1965,

8 Timur Celebrates His Conquest

as a control. On textiles made

Franses, 1980, p.110, fig.209;

p.84, no.11; Darmstadt, 1965,

of Delhi in 1398, from the Zafar-

before 1550 the results are very

HALI 71, 1993, p.119; Thompson,

no.11; Museum für Islamische

nama of Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi,

consistent between one laboratory

2006, p.136, fig.115. Exhibited:

Kunst, 1967, no.317, pl.4, fig.48;

HALI ISSUE 167 19

INDIAN SILK CARPETS

20 HALI ISSUE 167

Reichel, 1969, pp.170-1, pl.58

(R84.12), acquired 1931. Formerly:

Published: Ölçer, et al., 1996,

of 1488: (1) A Party at the Court of

(detail); Bode and Kühnel, 1970,

reportedly from the Convent of

p.73; Istanbul, 2007, p.33, no.11

Sultan-Husayn Mirza, Bustan of

p.34, fig.16 (detail); Erdmann,

Santa Ursula, Guadalajara; Adolfo

(with structure analysis); Denny

Sa’di, f.1b-2a. General Egyptian

1970, opp.p.108, pl.VIII (detail);

Loewi Collection, Venice; George

2010, p.62, fig.4. An almost

Book Organization, Cairo, Adab

Museum für Islamische Kunst,

Hewitt Myers Collection, Washing-

identical border with resolved

Farsi 908. Published: Washington

1971, no.585; Propyläen, 1973,

ton DC. Published: Textile Museum,

corner solutions on what looks

DC,

p.387, fig.406; Yetkin, 1974/1981,

1953, p.17, pls XVI-XVII (with

like a western Anatolian rug is

of Yusuf, Bustan of Sa’di, f.52b.

p.66, fig.34; Denny, 1979, p.22,

structure analysis); Bunt, 1966,

depicted in a tempera on wood

General Egyptian Book Organiz-

pl.3 (detail); Mackie, 1979, p.94,

fig.46; Weeks and Treganowan,

painting of ca. 1483, Madonna and

ation, Cairo, Adab Farsi 908.

fig.27 (detail); Museum für Islam-

1969, p.19, right (detail); Washing-

Child Enthroned with Saints, by

Published: Washington

ische Kunst, 1979, pp.158-9,

ton DC, 1972, no.30 (cited); Sherrill,

Domenico Ghirlandaio, in the Uffizi

p.294.

no.585, pls 14, 15 (details, with

1974, p.535, fig.5; Mackie, 1977,

Gallery, Florence.

33 Nushaba Recognizing Iskandar

structure analysis); Museum für

p.26, fig.15; Mackie, 1979, p.91,

29 Small-pattern Holbein carpets

by His Portrait, Khamsa of Nizami,

1989, p.260. (2) The Seduction

DC,

1989,

Islamische Kunst, 1980, no.44;

fig.12; Gantzhorn, 1990, p.229,

with unresolved corner solutions:

f.244b. Herat, copied 1445-46.

Frankfurt am Main, 1980, p.156,

fig.340; Sherrill, 1996, p.37, pl.28;

(1) The Florence small-pattern

Topkapı Sarayi Library, Istanbul,

fig.104; Spuhler, 1980, pl.III, fig.3;

Sherrill, 2001, p.84, fig.2 (detail);

Holbein carpet, Anatolia, late 15th

inv.no.H.781. Published: Wash-

Ruppersberg, 1981, p.182; Pietsch,

Washington

century. (a) 202 x 202cm, lower

ington

1981, p.24; Klose, 1983, p.23,

fig.23 (with structure analysis);

left section. Bardini Foundation,

3, 4c.

fig.6; Pagnano, 1983, pl.8; Black,

Bier, 2004, pp.12-13. Exhibited:

Florence, inv.no.7865. (b) 193 x

34 The Chihil Sutun Para-Mamluk

1985, p.51, fig.a; Ellis, 1986, p.167,

Washington

94cm, section. Keir Collection,

niche rug with Kufic Inscription.

acquired 1971. Formerly: Salvadore

See note 18 above, no.(2).

DC,

2003, pp.25, 283,

1972; Washington

DC,

1989, p.378, Appendix

fig.5; Museum of Islamic Art,

DC,

1988, pp.31, 147, no.4 (with

23 Two-octagon rug, western

Collection, Florence. Published:

35 Chester Beatty Library, Dublin,

structure analysis); Aslanapa,

Anatolia, late 16th century. 142 x

Keir Collection, 1978, pp.34-5,

Per 124, 2 volumes. Also,

2003.

1988, p.84, pl.65; Berlin, 1989,

88cm. Museum of Islamic Art,

pl.5; London, 1983, p.53, no.6;

Shahnama, dated 1438, in the

pp.178, 620, no.4/138, fig.192;

Berlin, inv.no.KGM 1904,77.

Ellis, 1985, pp.65-7, no.R-30 (with

British Library, London, inv.no.Or.

Gantzhorn, 1991, p.189, pl.291;

24 The S¸eyh Baba Yusuf Mosque

structure analysis). (2) The

1403. See Brend, 1986, for a

Day, 1996, pp.50-1, 71, fig.44

two-octagon with eight-lobed

Düsseldorf-Berlin small pattern

discussion of the Indian attribution of these manuscripts.

(details); Ölçer, et al., 1996, pp.60-

flowers rug, western Anatolia,

Holbein rug. Anatolia, late 15th

1, 227, pl.39 (with structure

16th century. 130 x 202cm,

century. 89 x 157cm, section.

36 Some carpets with filled-in

analysis); Türkmen, 1999, p.109

incomplete in width. Museum

Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin,

interlaced knots in the borders in

(detail); Berlin, 2004, p.42, no.23;

of Turkish and Islamic Arts,

inv.no.I.6737. Formerly: Municipal

Italian paintings: (1) Madonna and

Bennett, 2004, p.100 (detail);

Istanbul, inv.no.700. Formerly:

Collection, Düsseldorf. Published:

Child Enthroned with Two Saints.

Thompson, 2006, p.52, fig.31;

S¸eyh Baba Yusuf Mosque,

Erdmann, 1955, fig.27 (detail);

Ghirlandaio, 1483. Galerie Uffizi,

HALI 148, 2006, p.99; Spallanzani,

Sivrihisar. Published: Aslanapa,

Schlosser, 1963, p.88, fig.6;

Florence. (2) St. Catherine. Biagio

2007, p.211, pl.73. Exhibited:

1961, pl.III; Ellis, 1963, p.9, fig.11;

Erdmann, 1970, p.145, fig.184;

d’Antonio (Tucci or Tuccio)(1446-

Munich, 1965; Darmstadt, 1965;

Bode and Kühnel, 1970, p.33,

Ellis, 1985, p.65, no.R-29 (cited);

1516). (3) Doge Loredan and Four

Berlin, 1989; Berlin, 2004.

fig.13;HALI 25, 1985, p.41; Ellis,

Ellis, 1986, p.171, fig.7 (detail).

Advisers. Giovanni Bellini, 1507.

21 The Ballard Flowers in

1986, p.165, fig.2; Gantzhorn,

30 The Disappearance of Kay

Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. (4) St

Octagons Carpet. Spain, 15th

1991, p.179, pl.257; Ölçer, 1993,

Khusraw Related to Luhrasp, in a

Mark Enthroned with Saints.

century. 154 x 274cm. St. Louis

p.53, fig.18 (detail); Ölçer, et al.,

Shahnameh, copied for Baisunghur.

Giovanni da Udine (Giovanni

Art Museum, inv.no.122.1929.

1996, pp.51, 226, pl.32 (with

Herat, 1429-30

Nanni, Giovanni de’ Ricamatori)

Formerly: James F. Ballard

structure analysis); Ghereh, 10,

Palace Museum, Tehran.

(Udine 1487-ca.1564, Rome),

Collection, St. Louis. Published:

1996, p.69; Roccella, 2001, p.68,

Published: Pope, 1938-39, vol. V,

1520. Udine Cathedral. (5) The

May, 1945, p.56, fig.27; Ballard

fig.1 (detail); Istanbul, 2007, pp.37,

pl.870; Briggs, 1940, p.35, fig.42

Last Supper. Francesco di Giro-

Collection, 1924, pp.184-5, no.101;

159-60, no.15 (with structure

(detail drawing).

lamo da Santacroce, ca. 1540s.

Ballard Collection, 1935, pl.XII;

analysis). Exhibited: Istanbul,

31 Some carpets in Persian

Church of San Francesco della

Torres, 1942, fig.13; London, 1983,

St. Irene Museum, ‘The Turkish

paintings: (1) Humay in the Palace

Vigna, Venice. (6) Saint Antoninus.

p.27, fig.29; Day, 1989, p.321,

Carpet Through History’, ICOC,

of the Fairies (detail), Humay u

Lorenzo Lotto, 1542. Chiesa dei

. Gulistan

fig.318; Gantzhorn, 1990, p.230,

October 1984; Istanbul, 2007.

Humayun copied for Baysunghur

Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.

fig.341; HALI 113, 2000, p.123

25 See Pinner and Stanger, 1978.

ibn Shahrukh, f.10b. Herat, 1427-

37 Private correspondence, 1992.

(detail); Ghereh, 25, 2000, p.75.

26 The Detroit three-octagon rug.

28. Nationalbibliothek, Vienna,

The Phrygians were an Indo-

Exhibited: Pittsburgh, Carnegie

Western Anatolia, C-14 dated to

inv.no.N.F.382. Published:

European people who first

Institute, 1923; Indianapolis, John

1473-1662. 178 x 285cm. Museum

Washington

appeared in Anatolia about the

Herron Art Institute, 1924.

of Islamic Art, Doha. Formerly: The

fig.82. (2) Baysunghur ibn

year 1200

22 The Convent of Santa Ursula

Textile Gallery, London; private

Shahrukh Seated in a Garden,

central Anatolian power in the 8th

flowers in octagons carpet. Spain,

collection, Bloomfield Hills.

Kalila u Dimna of Nizamuddin

century

15th century. (a) 103 x 250cm,

Published: Thompson, 2006,

Abu’l-Ma’ali Nasrullah, f.1b-2a.

comprised practically the whole of

incomplete, three octagons.

p.145, fig.132 (detail). Exhibited:

Herat, 1429. Topkapı Sarayi Library,

central and west Anatolia, with its

Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar,

Detroit Institute of Arts.

Istanbul, inv.no.R.1022. Published:

capital at Gordion. Excavations have revealed impressive

DC,

1989, p.220,

BC,

and were a major

when their kingdom

inv.no.CA24. Formerly: Reportedly

27 The Divrig˘i ‘Domes and

Washington

from the Convent of Santa Ursula,

Squinches two-octagon carpet.

no.21. (3) Tahmina Enters Rustam’s

architecture and rock-hewn

Guadalajara; Adolfo Loewi Collec-

See note 17 above.

Chamber, possibly from an

sculpture decorated with

tion, Venice, no.7.419 b; Benedava,

28 The Alaaddin Keykubad small-

anthology. Herat, ca. 1434-40.

geometrical ornament in relief.

Paris; Wher Collection. Published:

pattern Holbein carpet. Western

Harvard University Art Museums

38 ‘Hitler’s Carpet’, Konya, 15th or

DC,

1989, pp.66, 110,

Ferrandis Torres, 1942, fig.15; Ellis,

Anatolia, 16th century. 100 x

(Arthur M. Sackler Museum),

16th century. 116 x 192cm.

1986, p.168, fig.6; Franses, 2008,

187cm, section. Museum of

Cambridge, inv.no.1939.225.

Destroyed by fire in World War II.

p.68, fig.1. (b) 97 x 390cm, four

Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul,

Published: Washington

octagons. Textile Museum,

inv.no.303. From the tomb of

p.130, no.45.

Berlin, inv.no.I.946, acquired in

Washington

Alaaddin Keykubad, Konya.

32 Carpets in two Herat paintings

1908 in Konya. Published: Sarre,

DC,

inv.no.R44.2.2

DC,

1989,

Formerly: Museum of Islamic Art,

INDIAN SILK CARPETS 1909, pl.XXV; Erdmann, 1960,

abstain from fights and quarrels”;

Mohammed Shah III, Lashkari,

Kühnel, Antique Rugs from the

fig.157; Erdmann, 1970, p.136,

although in others the game is

1463-1482; Mohammed Shah IV

Near East, 4th ed., translated by

fig.169. Became known as

listed as one of the 72 arts that a

(Mahmud Vira Shah) 1482-1518;

C.G. Ellis, London, 1958.

‘Hitler’s Carpet’ after 1933.

young prince should learn.

Ahmad Vira Shah III, 1518-1521;

Bode, Wilhem von, and Ernst

39 Swastika carpet, Konya, 16th

49 For example: Wilkins, 2002,

Aladdin Shah, 1521-1522; Wali-

Kühnel, Antique Rugs from the

or 17th century. 105 x 87cm,

which also provides rules for the

Allah Shah, 1522-1525; Kalim-Allah

Near East, translated by Charles

incomplete. Kirchheim Family

game.

Shah, 1525-1527. Information from

Grant Ellis, 4th edition, revised,

Collection, Stuttgart. Published:

50 Private correspondence with

Wikipedia and Ansari, 1988.

Bell & Sons, London, 1970.

Kirchheim Collection, 1993, p.338,

Dr Irving Finkel, Assistant Keeper,

59 Ansari, 1988. The state allowed

Brend, Barbara, ‘The British

pl.215. Further variations on this

Ancient Mesopotamian Languages

religious freedom and peoples of

Library’s Shahnama of 1438 as a

pattern are discussed at length in

and Cultures at the British

all faiths worked in the govern-

Sultanate Manuscript’, in Facets of

Orient Stars (Franses, 1993,

Museum, 2011.

ment, which allowed for great

Indian Art, edited by R. Skelton,

pp.274-5).

51 Pachisi, the national game of

trade with numerous countries

Andrew Topsfield and Susan

40 The Frauenknecht ‘Holbein-

India, resembles the modern

and brought considerable riches.

Stronge, symposium held at the

style’ rug, India, 15th century.

game Ludo played in the West. It

Private collection. Formerly:

dates back to at least 4

Bertram Frauenknecht, Munich.

remains popular today. Each player

and

Victoria & Albert Museum, Works Cited

London, 26-28 April 1982, pp.87-

Ansari, N.H., ‘The Bahmanid

93, London, 1986.

Published: Thompson, 2006, p.46,

has a set of pawns that start in his

Dynasty’, in Encyclopaedia Iranica,

Briggs, Amy, ‘Timurid Carpets, I,

fig.18.

or her corner of the board. The

15 December 1988.

Geometric Carpets’, in Ars

41 This may well have been in one

goal is to move the pawns around

Aslanapa, Oktay, Turkish Arts,

Islamica, vol. VII, no. 1, pp.20–54,

of the Latimer Surveys or in an

the board to the ‘home’ section.

translated by Herman Kreider,

1940.

issue of the Journal of Indian Arts

Movement is controlled by dice.

Dogan Kardes, Istanbul, 1961.

Brock-Raming, Andreas, ‘The

and Handicrafts.

All players move around the same

Aslanapa, Oktay, One Thousand

Gaming Board in Indian Chess and

42 Gion Survey, 1992.

board, so they may capture each

Years of Turkish Carpets, Eren,

Related Board Games: A Terminological Investigation’, in Board

43 See Purdon, 1994.

other’s pawns. Captured pawns

Istanbul, 1988.

44 The Gion Matsuri ‘Holbein-

are returned to their player’s

Atil, Esin (ed.), Turkish Art,

Games Studies, 2, pp.42-59, 1999.

Style’ Rug. India, 15th century.

corner and must start their

Abrams, New York, 1980.

Bunt, Cyril G.E., Hispano-

123 x 170cm, incomplete in

journey over. The winner is the

Ballard Collection, 1924, Catalogue

Moresque Fabrics, F. Lewis, Leigh-

length, wool pile on a cotton

first player to move all pawns

of Oriental Rugs in the Collection

on-Sea, 1966.

foundation. Gion Matsuri Kita-

‘home’. See http://www.board-

of James F. Ballard, text by James

Cavallo, Adolph, ‘A Carpet from

Kannon-yama Preservation

gamegeek.com/boardgame/2136

F. Ballard, with Arthur McLean and

Cairo’, in Journal of the American

Association, Kyoto, Japan.

/pachisi

Dorothy Blair, St. Louis, 1924.

Research Center in Egypt, vol. I,

Published: Gion Festival, 1970,

52 Finkel, 2002, pp.65-78.

Ballard Collection, 1935, Ballard

pp.69–97, Boston, 1962.

pl.67 (erroneously attributed to

53 Vasantha, 2003, pp.25-36.

Collection of Oriental Rugs in the

Darmstadt, Türkische Kunst,

18th century, but correctly

54 Board Game Studies, 5, 2002,

City Art Museum of St. Louis, text

exhibition catalogue, 8 May to 23

catalogued as Indian); Gion

pp.25-33.

by Maurice Dimand, St. Louis, 1935.

June 1965, pp.38–48, text by Kurt

Survey, 1992, pl.30; New York,

55 Ibid, pp.33-6.

Bennett, Ian (ed.), Rugs and

Erdmann (part reprint of Erdmann, 1957; Erdmann, 1977), 1965.

1997, p.142, fig.138; Walker, 1997,

56 I was made aware of this wool

Carpets of the World, Greenwich

p.101, fig.6. Structure analysis

pile rug during a research visit to

Editions, London, 2004.

Day, Susan, ‘“Chinoiserie” in

(Nobuko Kajatani): Warp Z6S,

the Palace Museum in Beijing in

Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau,

Islamic Carpet Design’, in HALI 48,

white cotton. Weft: 3 shoots, 10Z

2000, and noted the similarities

Europa und der Orient, 800–1900,

pp.38–45, December 1989.

blue cotton, lazy lines. Pile: 2Z

between it and the Ashtapada

exhibition catalogue, 28 May to 27

Day, Susan (ed.), Great Carpets

wool, asymmetrically knotted

carpet.

August 1989, edited by Gereon

of the World, Vendome Press,

open to the left, 465 knots per

57 Brend, 1986, p.89.

Sievernich and Hendrik Budde,

New York, 1996.

square dm. Sides: cord of 4 warps

58 Golconda lies eleven kilometres

Bertelsmann, Berlin, 1989.

Denny, Walter B., ‘Ten Great

(2 over 2, not plied), weft-

west of the city of Hyderabad, in

Berlin, Museum für Islamische

Carpets’, review of the exhibition

wrapped, overcasting of buff-

the modern state of Andhra

Kunst, Islamische Kunst in Berliner

of the same title at the Boston

coloured cotton in most places but

Pradesh. Its origins go back to 500

Sammlungen – 100 Jahre

Museum of Fine Art, Autumn, 1977,

also of golden yellow wool (same

Museum für Islamische Kunst in

in HALI 1/2, pp.156–64, 1978.

as pile); triangular darts. Ends:

after a Telugu word for Shepherd’s

Berlin, exhibition catalogue, 19

Denny, Walter B., ‘The Origin of

and it was reportedly named

bottom has warp fringe with

Hill. At this time it was part of the

October 2004 to 16 January 2005,

the Designs of Ottoman Court

approximately 20 warps gathered

Kakatiyas Kingdom. From 1347-

edited by Jens Kröger and D.

Carpets’, in HALI vol. II, no. 1, pp.6–11, Spring 1979.

and tied with thin extra strand of

1527, Golconda and Warangal

Heiden, Parthas, Berlin, 2004.

cotton; top cut and bound.

were part of the Bahmani Sultan-

Bernheimer, Otto, Alte Teppiche

Denny, Walter B., ‘Türkmen

45 Private communication.

ate, the first full independent

des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts der

Carpets and Early Rug Weaving in

46 The Frauenknecht ‘Holbein-

Islamic state in central India,

Firma L. Bernheimer, Bernheimer,

the Western Islamic World’, in

style’ rug. See note 40 above.

which was founded by Ala-ud-Din

Munich, 1959.

HALI 4/2, pp.329–37, 1982.

47 Kenneth Whyld (6 March 1926-

Hassan Bahman Shah, possibly of

Bier, Carol, ‘Spanish and Mamluk

Denny, Walter B., ‘Anatolia, Tabriz

11 July 2003), British chess

Tajik-Persian decent, who broke

Carpets. Comparisons of

and the Carpet Design Revolution’,

author, researcher and historian.

away from the more powerful

Decoration and Structure’, in

in Carpets and Textiles in the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_

Sultanate of Delhi. The Bahmani

Ghereh, 36, pp.9–17, 2004.

Iranian World 1400-1700, edited by

Whyld; www.kwabc.org.

Sultans from the late 14th century

Black, David (ed.), World Rugs

Jon Thompson, Daniel Shaffer and

48 Brock-Raming, 1999, pp.42-59.

were: Taj ud-Din Firuz Shah, 1397-

and Carpets, Feltham, 1985.

Pirjetta Mildh, The May Beattie

In one Jain text from 300

1422; Ahmad Shah I Wali, 1422-

Bode, Wilhelm von, and E.

Archive at the Ashmolean Museum

example, the wise man is instruc-

1436; Aladdin Ahmad Shah II,

Kühnel, Vorderasiatische

& The Bruschettini Foundation for

ted: “He should not learn [to play]

1436-1458; Aladdin Humayun

Knüpfteppiche aus Älterer Zeit,

Islamic and Asian Art, Oxford &

the ashtapada[-game], he should

Zalim Shah, 1458-1461; Aladdin

4th ed., revised, Klinkhardt &

Genoa 2010, pp.58-71.

not speak anything forbidden by

Humayun Zalim Shah, 1458-1461;

Biermann, Braunschweig, 1955.

Doha, Sheraton Hotel, Silk, 13th

the law; a wise man should

Nizam Shah, 1461-1463;

Bode, Wilhelm von, and Ernst

to 18th Centuries, Treasures from

BC,

for

HALI ISSUE 167 21

INDIAN SILK CARPETS the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar,

pp.8–9, October/November/

Timurid Period’, in Hali Annual 4,

Art, New York, 1973.

exhibition catalogue, Doha Festival,

December 1986.

pp.8-25, Hali Publications, London,

Milhofer, S.A., Das Goldene Buch

28 February to 18 March 2004,

Finkel, Irving L., ‘Pachisi in Arab

1997.

des Orientteppichs, Schmidt-

text by Jon Thompson, National

Garb’, in Board Game Studies, 5,

Heinz, Dora, Alte Orientteppiche,

Küster, Hannover, 1962.

Council for Culture, Arts and

pp.65-78, 2002.

Wohnkunst und Hausrat/Einst und

Mills, John, ‘The Chihil Sutun

Heritage, Doha, 2004.

Frankfurt, Museum für

Jetzt, vol. 24, Darmstadt, 1956.

“Para-Mamluk” Prayer Rug’, in

Ellis, Charles Grant, ‘A Soumak

Kunsthandwerk, etc., Werner

Istanbul, International

HALI 93, pp.72–6, July 1997.

Woven Rug in a 15th Century

Brüggemann & Harald Böhmer,

Conference on Oriental Carpets,

Moustapha, Mohamed, Le

International Style’, in Textile

Teppiche der Bauern und Nomaden

Weaving Heritage of Anatolia,

Musée de l’Art Arabe au Caire,

Museum Journal, vol. I, no. 2,

in Anatolien, exhibition catalogue,

catalogue of exhibitions for the

Cairo, 1949.

pp.3–20, Washington

Frankfurt-am-Main, November

11th ICOC, 19 to 22 April 2007,

Munich, Stadt-Museum,

1980 to January 1981, Munich,

edited by Hülya Tezcan and

Türkische Kunst, Historische

DC,

1963.

Ellis, Charles Grant, ‘Mysteries of the Misplaced Mamluks’, in

Staaliches Museum für Völker-

Sumiyo Okumura, 2 vols, ICOC,

Teppiche und Keramik, exhibition

Textile Museum Journal, vol. II,

kunde, March to May 1981,

Istanbul, 2007.

catalogue of the Kunstrat, text by

no. 2, pp.2–20, Washington

Krefeld, Textilmuseum, July to

Keir Collection, Ham, Islamic

Ernst Kühnel, 8 July to 22 August

1967.

September 1981, Lübeck, Museum

Carpets and Textiles in the Keir

1965, Munich, 1965.

Ellis, Charles Grant, ‘Carpet

für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte,

Collection, text by Friedrich

Museum für Islamische Kunst,

Collections of the Philadelphia

October 1981 to January 1982,

Spuhler, Faber and Faber, London,

Berlin, Katalog 1967, Staatliche

Museum of Art’, in Textile

Verlag Kunst & Antiquitäten,

1978.

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