Carpet
c.1880 (made)
| Place of origin |
One of two knotted wool pile carpets made in Lahore Central Jail bought by Caspar Purdon Clarke from the Punjab Exhibition 1881-2. Carpets were woven by inmates of British jails in India from around 1860. The designs for the carpets were provided by the British overseers of the jail production, and reflected a British taste for classical 16th and 17th century Persian and Mughal designs. One of the two knotted pile jail carpets bought by Clarke won first prize in the Jail Carpets Section of the 1881-82 Punjab Exhibition. The report on the exhibition produced for the Government of the Punjab describes the prize-winning carpet as ‘made of Pashmina, priced at Rs 272’. This was equivalent to around £18 at the time. Whilst it is not clear which of the two carpets was the prize-winner, the carpet illustrated is not made of pashmina (fine goat wool). The wool of the carpet is quite coarse, and some of the dyes are fugitive. Jail carpets were primarily produced for export, or the local British population. The production of Indian jail carpets such as this continued until around 1930, when global economic conditions depressed exports.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Carpet with woollen pile, palmette and leaf designs on a black ground with a red ground border, woven in Lahore Jail, c.1880; Textiles |
| Physical description | Carpet, woollen pile in palmette and leaf designs in shades of red, white, yellow and blue within a trellis structure on a black ground. Borders of a scrolling palmette and leaf design on a red ground. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Object history | 1883 Register entry: 'CARPET. Woollen, thick pile. Pattern, a rich flower and leaf ornament arranged in horizontal bands and a diagonal trellis on a black ground. Border of running ornament on a scarlet ground. Lahore Jail. L. 11 ft., W. 8 ft. Bought, 9l. 15s. 7d. 797. IS. 1883.' |
| Production | Woven by prisoners in the Lahore jail |
| Summary | One of two knotted wool pile carpets made in Lahore Central Jail bought by Caspar Purdon Clarke from the Punjab Exhibition 1881-2. Carpets were woven by inmates of British jails in India from around 1860. The designs for the carpets were provided by the British overseers of the jail production, and reflected a British taste for classical 16th and 17th century Persian and Mughal designs. One of the two knotted pile jail carpets bought by Clarke won first prize in the Jail Carpets Section of the 1881-82 Punjab Exhibition. The report on the exhibition produced for the Government of the Punjab describes the prize-winning carpet as ‘made of Pashmina, priced at Rs 272’. This was equivalent to around £18 at the time. Whilst it is not clear which of the two carpets was the prize-winner, the carpet illustrated is not made of pashmina (fine goat wool). The wool of the carpet is quite coarse, and some of the dyes are fugitive. Jail carpets were primarily produced for export, or the local British population. The production of Indian jail carpets such as this continued until around 1930, when global economic conditions depressed exports. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.797-1883 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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