Carpet
1870-1875 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of the Persian carpets in the Museum's collection in which there is a 'false start' at the lower edge of its field: in this carpet the original pattern was changed into stripes after a centimetre. Perhaps the client changed his mind, perhaps the original pattern was taking too long to weave, or perhaps the weavers found it too demanding? This, and other carpets given to the Museum by the Shah, were chosen by his ministers to represent the very best being woven in Iran in 1876.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Hand knotted woollen pile, on cotton warp and weft; asymmetrical knot, open to the left, with some Jufti knots, off-set knotting and some warp-sharing, with two knots tied around three warp threads; 285 knots per sq. in (4,560 per sq. dm)
WARP: white cotton; Z4S; 30 threads per inch (120 per dm); depressed.
WEFT: white cotton; Z3S; grey cotton; Z-spun, unplied, two parallel threads per shoot; one shoot of white cotton after every row of knots and 2 shoots of grey cotton after every four rows of knots; 19 knots to the inch (76 per dm).
PILE: wool; 10 colours: red, orange, dark yellow, yellow, dark green, light green, dark blue, light blue, light pink (faded), white; asymmetrical knot open to the left and Jufti knots are scattered throughout the carpet but are predominantly and consistently in narrow unpatterned red stripes. There is off-set knotting too and some warp-sharing, with two knots tied around three warp threads. 285 knots per sq.inch (4560 per sq.dm). The weavers were interpreting the design and tying knots in the most appropriate way for the pattern.
SIDE FINISH: one cord oversewn with red wool.
END FINISH: Missing |
| Brief description | Middle East, Textile, Carpet; Carpet, wool knotted pile on cotton foundation, "moharramat" striped design, part of a larger donation made by Nasruddin Shah Qajar in 1877, Qa'in, Khurasan province, Iran, 1870-1875 |
| Physical description | Carpet, wool pile on cotton warp and weft. DESIGN: Field: False start approx. 1 cm along the total width of the field. Thereafter the field is formed by 17 main stripes each containing a curvilinear meander in light blue on a red ground, or dark blue on a white ground, both with white spots. These meanders lie on top of a floral meander bearing botehs. These stripes are separated by sets of narrow stripes. Borders from the inside: (1) white ground with a dark blue meander bearing red and orange flowers (2) narrow stripe with white ground with a green meander with red and orange flowers (3) Main Border: orange ground with a dark yellow meander outlined in dark blue with predominantly red naturalistic flowers with branching stems (4) as (2) (5) as (1) Catalogue Date: 9.2.2000 |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by His Majesty Nasir al-Din Shah |
| Object history | In 1877, Nasruddin Shah, the Qajar ruler of Iran, approved a donation of contemporary textiles and carpets to the South Kensington Museum. Organised via Robert Murdoch Smith and Qajar minister Emin al-Mulk, the donation consisted of 14 carpets and 60 other examples of textiles, and was directly intended to advertise Iran's textile industry to British consumers. The accompanying letter to the Museum's Lords of Committee outlined the strategy "We have no doubt whatever that the English Nation has always viewed our manufactures in a kind and friendly manner; and although the Persian Arts have not attained a high rank, nevertheless they have been viewed with a friendly eye and examined in a partial spirit. Such being the case, H.I.M. the Shah resolved that a small quantity of the produce of this country - manufactures by Persian workmen of the present day - should be presented to the said Museum." |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is one of the Persian carpets in the Museum's collection in which there is a 'false start' at the lower edge of its field: in this carpet the original pattern was changed into stripes after a centimetre. Perhaps the client changed his mind, perhaps the original pattern was taking too long to weave, or perhaps the weavers found it too demanding? This, and other carpets given to the Museum by the Shah, were chosen by his ministers to represent the very best being woven in Iran in 1876. |
| Bibliographic reference | Moya Carey, Persian Art. Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A, London, 2017, p.194. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 839-1877 |
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| Record created | August 13, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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