Carpet
1840-1875 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Carpet Design:
Field: dark blue ground with 8 bands of 4 / 5 segmented boteh, the bands alternating in direction. A floral spring with a green stem and a blue main flower alternates with a floral spring with a blue stem and a white flower. Each flower supports a spray of three smaller flowers and the whole design is framed by a circle and cap of flowers which provides the boteh shape. The field is filled with varying sizes of botehs and birds.
Borders: 7 borders outwards from field: 1 - a reciprocal trefoil in red and green; 2 - white ground with narrow diagonal blocks in most colours; 3 - reciprocal trefoil in dark blue and orange; 4 (main) - red ground and angular floral meander with light blue stems bearing light red serrated leaves, dark blue diagonal leaves and brown or green rosettes. Across the right-hand border are 3 green birds with 2 on the left and many small flowers. In upper left-hand corner is an inscription in white; 5 - as border 3; 6 - as border 2; 7 - red ground with twisted ribbon design in yellow and brown and outlined in light blue.
Field: dark blue ground with 8 bands of 4 / 5 segmented boteh, the bands alternating in direction. A floral spring with a green stem and a blue main flower alternates with a floral spring with a blue stem and a white flower. Each flower supports a spray of three smaller flowers and the whole design is framed by a circle and cap of flowers which provides the boteh shape. The field is filled with varying sizes of botehs and birds.
Borders: 7 borders outwards from field: 1 - a reciprocal trefoil in red and green; 2 - white ground with narrow diagonal blocks in most colours; 3 - reciprocal trefoil in dark blue and orange; 4 (main) - red ground and angular floral meander with light blue stems bearing light red serrated leaves, dark blue diagonal leaves and brown or green rosettes. Across the right-hand border are 3 green birds with 2 on the left and many small flowers. In upper left-hand corner is an inscription in white; 5 - as border 3; 6 - as border 2; 7 - red ground with twisted ribbon design in yellow and brown and outlined in light blue.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wool knotted pile on wool foundation, asymmetric knot.
Warp: dark brown; wool; Z2S; not depressed; 18 knots per inch (68 per dm).
Weft: dark brown, dark green, and red in irregular bands; wool; Z2S; 2 shoots after each row of knots (occasionally 3 or 4 woven in short wedges); 8 rows of knots per inch (30 per dm).
Pile: wool; 9 colours: red, light red, light orange, yellow, green, dark blue, light blue, dark brown, white; asymmetrical knot, open to left and tied around 2 warp threads; 1 cord oversewn with red and green wool in stripes.
Side finish - lower end: missing; upper end: row of warp turning and warp threads twisted to form fringe. |
| Brief description | Middle East, Textile, Carpet; Carpet, wool knotted pile on wool foundation, design of offset botehs against blue ground, inscribed Yusuf Ali, possibly Lur or Kashkuli (Qashqai) tribe, Fars province, Iran, 1840-1875 |
| Physical description | Carpet Design: Field: dark blue ground with 8 bands of 4 / 5 segmented boteh, the bands alternating in direction. A floral spring with a green stem and a blue main flower alternates with a floral spring with a blue stem and a white flower. Each flower supports a spray of three smaller flowers and the whole design is framed by a circle and cap of flowers which provides the boteh shape. The field is filled with varying sizes of botehs and birds. Borders: 7 borders outwards from field: 1 - a reciprocal trefoil in red and green; 2 - white ground with narrow diagonal blocks in most colours; 3 - reciprocal trefoil in dark blue and orange; 4 (main) - red ground and angular floral meander with light blue stems bearing light red serrated leaves, dark blue diagonal leaves and brown or green rosettes. Across the right-hand border are 3 green birds with 2 on the left and many small flowers. In upper left-hand corner is an inscription in white; 5 - as border 3; 6 - as border 2; 7 - red ground with twisted ribbon design in yellow and brown and outlined in light blue. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Yusuf `Ali (The name Yusuf `Ali is woven into the top right and left corners of the carpet. It is unusual to find a man's name is this context, as nomadic weavers were usually women.) |
| Object history | Bought from the collection of Gaston de Saint-Maurice (1831-1905) in 1884. Saint-Maurice displayed his extensive art collection at the 1878 Paris exhibition, in a gallery entitled L'Egypte des Khalifes. This was part of an official sequence of displays celebrating the history of Egypt, presented by the Egyptian state at this international event. Saint-Maurice held a position at the Khedival court, and had lived in Cairo in 1868-1878. Following the exhibition, Saint-Maurice offered his collection for sale to the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A). |
| Associations | |
| Bibliographic reference | Related carpet: Hali, 34 (April/June 1987): 15. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1013-1884 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | October 15, 2007 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
