Carpet
1870-1875 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In this carpet there is a riot of botehs: each large boteh contains three smaller ones and this combination is sometimes charmingly referred to as a 'pregnant' boteh. This and other carpets given to the Museum by the Shah, were chosen by his ministers to represent the very best being produced in Iran in 1876.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wool knotted pile, on cotton warp and cotton and wool weft; asymmetrical knot, open to the left, with jufti knots and off-set knotting; 280 knots per sq. in (4,320 per sq. dm)
WARP: white cotton; Z4S; 28 threads to the inch (108 per dm); depressed.
WEFT: white cotton and brown wool; cotton = Z2S; wool = Z-spun, unplied, 2 parallel threads per shoot; 1 shoot of cotton after each row of knots and one sinuous shoot of wool after every 5 rows of knots; 20 knots per inch (80 per dm). Blue cotton weft has been used at the lower end of the carpet, about 2" from the end.
PILE: wool; 9 colours: red, orange, yellow, green, light green, dark blue, blue, purple (faded), white; asymmetrical knot open to the left and predominantly tied around 2 warps. Jufti knots are scattered throughout the carpet but are predominantly and in narrow unpatterned stripes of red, dark blue and purple and in the dots in meanders. There is off-set knotting too. 280 knots per sq. inch (4320 per sq. dm).
SIDE FINISH: one cord oversewn with red wool.
END FINISH: Lower: incomplete but with evidence of plain weave with white cotton weft. Upper: missing - loose warp threads. |
| Brief description | Carpet, wool knotted pile on wool and cotton foundation, dense pattern of offset botehs on red ground, possibly Mashhad, Khurasan, Iran, 1870-1875 |
| Physical description | Carpet Design: Field: red ground with 17½ bands of 8 and one part botehs; the rest of the space is filled with small flowers. Main Border: white ground with pregnant boteh and child, as in the field but larger and with an infilling of flowers. No inner border. Outer Border: dark blue ground with small flowers. NOTE: it was the clear aim of the designer to get a dense, fluid linear design - so the technique was dictated by the design, not the other way round, hence the use of sinuous weft only after 5 rows of knots and the variable number of warp threads around which knots are tied. Catalogue Date: 21 July 1999 |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| 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." |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | In this carpet there is a riot of botehs: each large boteh contains three smaller ones and this combination is sometimes charmingly referred to as a 'pregnant' boteh. This and other carpets given to the Museum by the Shah, were chosen by his ministers to represent the very best being produced 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 | 836-1877 |
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| Record created | August 13, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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