Carpet fragment
- Place of origin:
Usak, Turkey (probably, made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Hand-knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Islamic Middle East, room 42, case WE14
- Download image
The pattern on this carpet fragment shows how some designs filled the field with small-scale repeat patterns. This example has rows of octagons of different sizes, rings of knotwork, and arabesques. Patterns of this type appear in Iranian paintings of the early 15th century, and in European paintings from the mid 15th century.
Pile carpets are one of many types of floor covering used in the Middle East. They are the most familiar to western Europeans as they have been imported from Turkey since at least the mid 15th century. Examples appear in Italian Renaissance paintings and are also depicted by north European artists such as Hans Holbein. Certain carpet designs became known in Europe by the names of the artists who painted them, including Holbein and Lorenzo Lotto.
Physical description
Carpet fragments, hand-knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft; Turkish; 16th century.
Small pattern Holbein design.
Warp: white wool; Z2S; 16 thread per inch/58-62 per dm
Weft: red wool; Z-spun, unplied; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 9-11 shoots per inch/34-39 per dm. There are some lazy lines.
Pile: wool; 9 colours: dark red, red, dark green, green, dark blue, blue, light blue, black [corroded], white. Symmetrical knottied around two warp threads; 80 knots per sq.in/1095 per sq/dm.
Side Finish: cut
End Finish: cut
Design:
[Carpet fragment] Two pieces joined together.
Design: no ground colour. Upper Section: one and a third bands of three juxtaposed squares form a grid. Within each square is a knotted Holbein octagon in [decayed] black, outlined on the outside and the inside in contrasting colours. Within is a smaller octagon with a central star motif. Beyond the octagon on its cardinal points are four even smaller octagons with stars, those on the sides linking the squares. The four corners are filled with stylized tracery linked to the corners of adjacent squares by a diamond containing a star motif. The colours in the complete band from the left: red on dark green ground; blue and green on red ground with white medallion; right hand side as for left. No borders.
Lower Section: One band as above. Colours from left: light blue on red ground with a white medallion; red and dark blue ground; right hand side as on left. Stars within medallions are various in design. No borders.
Date catalogued: 16/06/1999
Place of Origin
Usak, Turkey (probably, made)
Date
ca. 1500 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Hand-knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft
Dimensions
Length: 90 cm, Width: 107 cm
Descriptive line
Fragments of a carpet with interlace design, Turkey (probably Usak), about 1500.
Labels and date
Fragments of Carpet with Interlace Design
Turkey, probably Usak
About 1500
An earlier approach to carpet design was to fill the field with small-scale repeat patterns. This example has rows of octagons of different sizes, rings of knotwork, and arabesques. Patterns of this type appear in Iranian paintings of the early 15th century, and in European paintings from the mid-15th century.
Wool warp (Z2S), weft and pile
Museum no. 154-1908 [Jameel Gallery]
Production Note
"Small-pattern Holbein" carpet
Materials
Wool yarn
Techniques
Weaving; Knotting
Categories
Floor coverings
Collection code
MES
