Carpet Fragment thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Carpet Fragment

1600-1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Carpet fragment from upper right of the field with a top and right-hand side border; vase technique.
Design: field: a dark blue ground with a broad lattice of curving pink and yellow stems bearing, from the lower end, a large blue blossom, a yellow and then a red, and against the border, half a cream blossom and half a blue. Beneath the stems, in the upper half, are a cypress tree and a flowering tree; above the stems are two large sickle leaves - the lower curves to the left in overlapping blocks of colour, while the upper leaf is primarily yellow, has a serrated edge and contains a long floral spray. Elsewhere there are balls of two interlocking colours and part of a dark pink cloudband as well as smaller flowers, buds and sprays.
Main border: a dark pink ground with a floral meander of a slender green vine bearing a blue, cream-centred palmette that alternates with a green and pink rosette.
Inner guard stripe: a reciprocal 'Y' design in red and cream.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Warp: white cotton; Z4S; depressed; 34 threads per inch (125 per dm). Weft: blue and brown wool; both z spun, not possible to determine if plied; 3 shoots after each row of knots, sometimes all 3 are blue and sometimes only the middle one; 16 knots per inch (60 per dm). Pile: wool; 13 colours: red, dark yellow, yellow, light yellow, dark green, green, dark blue, blue, light blue, dark pink, pink, black (much corroded), cream; asymmetrical knot open to the left and tied around 2 threads; 272 knots per sq. inch (3750 per sq. dm). Side finish: both sides are missing. End finish: both ends are missing.
Brief description
Carpet fragment, wool knotted pile on cotton warp and wool weft, 'Vase Carpet' lattice design on dark blue ground, Safavid Kirman, Iran, 1600-1700
Physical description
Carpet fragment from upper right of the field with a top and right-hand side border; vase technique.
Design: field: a dark blue ground with a broad lattice of curving pink and yellow stems bearing, from the lower end, a large blue blossom, a yellow and then a red, and against the border, half a cream blossom and half a blue. Beneath the stems, in the upper half, are a cypress tree and a flowering tree; above the stems are two large sickle leaves - the lower curves to the left in overlapping blocks of colour, while the upper leaf is primarily yellow, has a serrated edge and contains a long floral spray. Elsewhere there are balls of two interlocking colours and part of a dark pink cloudband as well as smaller flowers, buds and sprays.
Main border: a dark pink ground with a floral meander of a slender green vine bearing a blue, cream-centred palmette that alternates with a green and pink rosette.
Inner guard stripe: a reciprocal 'Y' design in red and cream.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 13kg
  • Top edge width: 1505mm
  • Bottom edge width: 1490mm
  • Proper right edge length: 620mm
  • Proper left edge length: 760mm
Weight including roller
Styles
Object history
Purchased from J. Sassoon & Co., 179 Wardour Street, London.
Bibliographic reference
M. H. Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia (London: World of Islam 1976): cat. no. 19.
Collection
Accession number
360-1892

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Record createdAugust 25, 2005
Record URL
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